Salary Cap Constraints Limit What Maple Leafs Likely To Do At Trade Deadline

As the NHL’s March 21 trade deadline approaches, we’re bound to hear the Toronto Maple Leafs mentioned in rumors and discussions. But realistically, the Leafs are not going to be big buyers at the deadline. Toronto’s salary cap situation – they’re projected by CapFriendly.com to have only $1 million in cap space by the deadline – severely restricts them from doing straight-up rental deals for some of the bigger names on the block (Phil Kessel, for instance). More likely, we’ll see Buds GM Kyle Dubas bring in some non-marquee names to deepen their blueline and on their wings.

Current Canadian Olympic team member Joshua Ho-Sang, who played earlier this season with the American League’s Toronto Marlies, could be exactly the type of low-risk, low-cost, high-reward acquisition, and Dubas wouldn’t have to trade any asset to land the current unrestricted free agent. The Leafs have other options for the wings, including rugged winger Kyle Clifford, off-season free agent signee Nick Ritchie, and current Marlies winger Nick Robertson.

For that reason, if there are moves that need to be prioritized, it’s moves that improve the talent pool on ‘D’. The Leafs have their top three D-men (Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin), but they could use more competition in the four-through-six blueline spots. If the Seattle Kraken retained some of his salary Mark Giordano would be an ideal pickup for the Leafs but there may be a bidding war for his services.

Besides, are there any spots to win over at this point in the season? Greybeards Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds have earned their fourth-line jobs. Same goes for third-line forwards David Kamof and Ondrej Kase. Toronto’s top-six forwards are the envy of most teams in the league. Despite the fact goalie Jack Campbell has struggled somewhat in recent games, No. 2 netminder Petr Mrazek has been successful since he returned from injury. The Leafs have been fortunate to avoid the full wrath of the injury bug, but injured players in the second half of this season are the only route to NHL job opportunities for Marlies players.

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The kinds of NHLers who will be available before the deadline are simply not going to be upgrades on the players currently on the Leafs’ roster. Improvement and growth must come from the players already in Toronto. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the Leafs’ core of foundational talent. For this year, at least, everyone in Toronto`s organization is being challenged to put up or face the prospect of potentially moving on.

The Leafs are enjoying a season in which they`re challenging to set a new franchise record in standings points. That’s because they’re getting contributions from just about everyone. Those who have not produced (Ritchie, for instance) have stuck out like sore thumbs. Internally, there is a healthy sense of competition for jobs and ice time. Keefe has plenty of options to use, depending on their opponents and their own team`s health status. These are all good things that justify Dubas` optimism with this group of players.

There may not be a fit for Toronto. A player might have the Leafs on their no-trade list. It`s not easy making moves under a hard cap system. Dubas may have to get extremely creative in making trades. There likely won’t be a superstar available at the deadline that is a match on cap hit and the remaining term of contract for Toronto`s liking. But don`t fret, Leafs fans – the Buds already have assembled an excellent team, and they did not need a trade deadline to do so.