Now that the Maple Leafs have locked up William Nylander to an eight-year, $11.5 million AAV deal, how will everything play out? That’s what we are here to dive into. Nylander’s new contract puts the Toronto Maple Leafs in a bind next season. Even though it would have been worse to lose him, especially if they let him walk in free agency, this doesn’t change the fact that the team will have to get very creative.
Next season, the core four plus Morgan Rielly have a combined cap hit of over $54 million. Say the cap goes up to $88 million, that leaves $34 million to use on 18 players that are expected to make up depth, goaltending, scoring, and productivity. They would have to allocate an average of $1.88 million per player if they want a full roster.
That is also a lot to ask from players being paid that little and it draws comparisons to the Minnesota Wild teams this season and last. While not nearly as much money was being given to multiple stars, they did have to pick the bottom of the barrel for depth and just survive until more cap space opens up for them. With the Maple Leafs, the feeling is that a ton of pressure and weight is going to be on those five players.
The team should have a goal of a Stanley Cup this season, but expectations should drop a little for just next season in what I want to call their layover year. Teams need depth to compete and the stars on the Maple Leafs have not proven that they can carry the team through multiple rounds. Unless that suddenly changes this season, I don’t think it’ll happen in 2024-25.
What Will Happen With the Maple Leafs Roster
So what will happen with the Maple Leafs’ roster? Ideally, players like Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, Fraser Minten, Noah Gregor, Bobby McMann, Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, Timothy Liljegren, Simor Benoit, Conor Timmins, Mark Giordano, and Joseph Woll are all in the mix or hanging around. These are all cheap players this season, and in most cases, will be fairly cheap next season too. If the Maple Leafs want to be able to hand out contracts that are more than $2 million AAV, they have to have many players under that amount.
This likely sees a player like Tyler Bertuzzi gone in the offseason. He is looking for term, and with the cap going up, other teams will be able to afford him, maybe even the Boston Bruins. T.J. Brodie is a veteran and into his mid-30s, so I can see him sticking around if he takes less on a deal, which is likely. No team is going to give him $5 million AAV next season.
Related: Canucks’ Kuzmenko Will Inevitably Be Traded in 2024
Next season will be a season where younger guys get some more leeway to show what they got. Luckily for the Maple Leafs this season, some have already been doing that. This will only last for one season if the cap is expected to jump up another $4-5 million the season after and John Tavares’ contract is up. There is a good possibility he takes a significant pay cut to end his career in Toronto. I don’t think the Maple Leafs will be bad or miss the playoffs, but expectations shouldn’t be as high for just one season.
