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The trade sending Garret Sparks to the Vegas Golden Knights for a 2020 fourth round pick and the contract of forward David Clarkson moved out a player that would not have made the Toronto Maple Leafs roster next season, but more importantly gave the club more cap flexibility to deal with Mitch Marner’s new contract.
Prior to the deal, the Leafs had less than $5 Million in cap space, which would have made placing Nathan Horton’s $5.3 Million contract on LTIR almost pointless. With the acquisition of Clarkson’s $5.25 Million salary, Toronto is over the $81.5 Million cap (with Horton and Clarkson’s contracts still counting), but they have most of the 10% overage available on the cap during the summer to potentially re-sign Marner.
Once the season starts, the Leafs would have been vulnerable because they would have to get cap compliant (under $81.5 Million) and might not have been able to match a potential offer sheet; a scenario that Larry Brooks mentioned in his Sunday column in the New York Post.
By adding Clarkson and placing both him and Horton on LTIR, Toronto can open up $10.55 Million in cap space after October 1.
After acquiring David Clarkson's contract, we now show the #Leafs with a projected cap hit of $82,234,699 ($734,699 above the $81.5M ceiling) with a roster of 22 (12F/8D/2G)
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 23, 2019
Leafs can still place Horton & Clarkson on LTIR and potentially exceed the ceiling by as much as $10.55M
Former Leafs Assistant GM Dave Poulin also pointed out on TSN’s First Up morning show on Wednesday that the move may also have protected the club in case the contract impasse between Marner and the Leafs lasts into the regular season. If Toronto signs Marner after the start of the year, the contract amount in year will be pro-rated (similar to what happened last December with William Nylander).
If the pro-rated amount was greater than the Leafs available cap space, they would have to send players down or trade players to fit Marner in.
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With their new found flexibility, the Leafs were able to confirm the one-year deals for Kenny Agostino, Nick Shore, Garrett Wilson and Kevin Gravel, but also announced the signings of forwards Pontus Aberg, Tyler Gaudet and Kalle Kossila.
Aberg played parts of three seasons with Nashville (including 16 playoff games for the Preds in their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017) before being traded to Edmonton in 2018. The 25-year-old scored 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 59 games with Anaheim and Minnesota last season and can play both left and right wing, which could put him in the mix for a fourth line spot at training camp.
Gaudet, 26, is a Hamilton, Ontario native who played in 20 NHL games over three seasons with Arizona and scored 25 points (8 goals, 17 assists) in 50 games for the Milwaukee Admirals last season.
Kossila was signed to a two-year, two-way deal after playing mostly for Anaheim’s AHL affiliate in San Diego last season. The 26-year-old scored 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 44 regular season games for the Gulls
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We have a new podcast out now. @IamNormanJames @MikeInBuffalo https://t.co/L7XV0syoLa
— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) July 23, 2019
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