News from the NHL Board of Governors meetings in Southern California this week that could be positive for the Toronto Maple Leafs relate to the league’s projections of the salary cap for the 2016-17 season, but the decision to do away with compensation for coaches and executives leaves the Leafs as one of a few to be penalized for a policy that lasted just 12 months.
The league estimates that the salary cap could increase to $74.5 million for next season from the current cap limit of $71.4 Million, which would be an increase of $3.1 Million. The amount is not etched in stone, but it gives NHL general managers an idea of their potential budget and how they can approach making potential acquisitions for the upcoming trade deadline in late February and address contractual dilemmas next summer.
"The league has been pretty accurate in their estimation of the cap in the coming year,"
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said. "So it does help you plan a little bit, and you have a better idea. From the manager's perspective, the cap going up gives you a little more flexibility to do what you need to do."
The projected $74.5 Million cap ceiling would also result in an increase in the cap floor from $52.8 Million to over $55 Million.
The potential increase would give Toronto over $30 Million in available cap space, with 11 players under contract for 2016-17 at just under $42 Million.
The Leafs will have less room to work with after contract extensions for restricted free agents Morgan Rielly, Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland are agreed to, but they would be well-positioned to acquire established players in trades or sign a Steven Stamkos or Anze Kopitar if they reach free agency next July.
Where Toronto could see the most benefit in the increased flexibility is from other teams who may be willing to deal for players whose contracts that extend beyond next season, such as Dion Phaneuf, Joffrey Lupul or Tyler Bozak.
Any deal for Phaneuf was thought to be contingent on the Leafs retaining a sizable portion of the team captain’s $7 Million salary, but with teams having more than $3 Million in additional cap space, it would make that less of a factor for the acquiring team or less of a burden for Toronto.
The amount of the cap floor necessitated budget teams like Florida and Arizona to deal for the contracts of Marc Savard and Chris Pronger(both retired due to concussion issues last summer) because they had sizable cap hits and low salary as their deals were front-loaded.
Budget teams could have similar interest in veteran winger Joffrey Lupul or defenseman Stephane Robidas. Lupul has a cap hit of $5.25 Million the next two seasons, but his salary drops to $3.75 Million in the final year. Robidas has one more year at $3 Million, but the salary in the final year of the deal is $2 Million.
The ruling on compensation for coaches and team executives on Tuesday was to eliminate it completely as of January 1. The rule was in effect for just one year and fell under heavy criticism after the Columbus Blue Jackets were forced to surrender a future second round pick to hire ex-Canucks coach John Tortorella.
The decision by the NHL is a double whammy to the Maple Leafs. Toronto still has to surrender a pair of third round picks between 2016 to 2018 to compensate the Detroit Red Wings for hiring Mike Babcock and the New Jersey Devils for Lou Lamoriello and could have been in line for a draft pick if a team were to hire Randy Carlyle, since the former Stanley Cup winner is under contract with Toronto until the end of the season.
"I think it was pretty clear all the reasons supporting why it's been eliminated,"
Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan said . "It's unfortunate for us the year in which they tried it out was a year in which we were seeking, but I can't complain and look back. If we had to do it all over again we would still go out and do it if we were acquiring somebody like Mike and Lou. At the end of the day there are certain things you can control and other things you can't, so I support their decision today to take it away."
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The Leafs return home after losing two of three against Central Division foes last weekend to face the New Jersey Devils at Air Canada Center. The Devils currently hold the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference standings with a 14-10-3 record(31 pts.) and have an impressive 8-4-0 record on the road.
Toronto native Mike Cammalleri leads New Jersey with 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) and starting goalie Cory Schneider in tied for 5th in the NHL with 12 wins.
The Leafs will go with rookie Garret Sparks, who earned his second NHL victory in St. Louis on Saturday and the same lineup.
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