The NHL announced on Tuesday that the salary cap for the 2016-17 regular season will be $73 Million, which is an increase of $1.6 Million from the cap limit last season.
With the trade for goaltender Frederik Andersen and five-year, $25 Million contract extension signed on Monday, Toronto has $65.9 Million in committed salary for next season according to
General Fanager, leaving just slightly over $7 Million in cap space available going into free agency.
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Some observers believe that the signing of Andersen has severely hampered the Leafs ability to make a competitive offer for free agent Steven Stamkos should he hit the market on July 1, but there are a number of factors that make the salary figure misleading.
1) During the offseason, the salary cap figure includes all players on one-way deals, even if they were previously on long term injured reserve (LTIR). That means that the $5.3 Million salary of winger Nathan Horton counts against the Leafs cap.
Teams are allowed to go 10% above the salary cap during the summer (an additional $7.3 Million) and only have to get under the cap before the start of the regular season.
If the Leafs make no moves of any kind, they would have $14.3 Million in cap space to sign players.
2) Defenseman Stephane Robidas did not play a game and spent all of last season on injured reserve. Toronto did not place his $3 Million salary on LTIR because they did not come close to the cap limit. If necessary, the Leafs can put the final year of Robidas’ contract on LTIR , which along with Horton would clear $8.3 Million in cap space in October.
3) The Leafs current payroll could go down significantly with trades that GM Lou Lamoriello may pull off at the NHL Draft this weekend or leading into the first week of July.
Center Tyler Bozak has two years remaining at $4.2 Million per season and may draw interest from teams thin up the middle and not willing pay inflated prices or long term deals in free agency.
The acquisition of Andersen makes Jonathan Bernier a very expensive backup. Bernier might be a preferable short-term option to address the goaltending needs of the Calgary Flames, who scouted the Leafs goaltender last November.
The Flames have been rumored to have interest in Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury and Detroit’s Jimmy Howard. Both netminders are over 30 years old and make more than $5 Million for another three seasons, while the 27-year-old Bernier has one year left at $4.15 Million.
4) Toronto has very few contract dilemmas to deal with this summer. Unrestricted free agents Michael Grabner, P-A Parenteau, Brad Boyes and Ben Smith are likely not to be back.
RFA defensemen Martin Marincin, Frank Corrado, Connor Carrick and Scott Harrington will either accept or sign something relatively close to their qualifying offers, while Josh Leivo, Stuart Percy and Peter Holland may be used as young assets in deals.
5) If Toronto is unable to move enough salary off the roster by trade, they can revisit the buyout option up until June 30. The Leafs exercised that option on defenseman Jared Cowen last week and could go down that road with wingers Joffrey Lupul, Colin Greening and possibly Bernier.
According to the Toronto Sun’s
Steve Simmons, the oft-injured Lupul has told friends that his days with the Leafs are likely done. A trade is unlikely with two seasons left at $5.25 Million, but a buyout would spread out two-thirds of the $9 Million owed to the veteran winger over the next four years and would open up $3.75 Million in cap space for 2016.
A buyout of Greening ($2.65 Million cap hit for 2016) would open up $2.1 Million in cap space for next season and would result in an additional $1.06 Million hit in 2017, while escaping the final year of Bernier’s deal would save $1.43 Million next season.
No one knows which direction the Leafs and Lamoriello will go over the next couple weeks, but it is clear that they do have options and are fully capable of making a big offer to Stamkos if that is something they want to pursue.
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