Leafy idea

Team: 2021-22 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 29, 2021

Published: Jun. 30, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Not a ton of changes, because there isn't the cap space for a ton. And I don't expect a flurry of trades.

If guys like Hyman, Galchenyuk, Dermott come in with lower contracts than this, great.

On Hyman, a higher AAV than RNH just got and the Leafs being the only team that can give him 8 years makes this something I think could be possible. I know the term is scary and I would front load that contract as much as the CBA will allow to make him just a high cap hit but low cash payments in the back half of it in case it's something that ought to be unloaded later. The low cash and high cap hit could make it something that a small market team that's low on cash and trying to hit the cap floor could have some interest in.

Christian Dvorak isn't a guy you hear a lot about in large part due to the market he plays in. He has shown though to be able to put points on the board, kill penalties, throw hits and blocks shots. He's also won a Memorial Cup while playing on a line with Marner and Matthew Tkachuk for the London Knights. And it was Dvorak who led that team in both goals and points. He was also the captain. He's still only 25 years old and has 4 years remaining on his contract. So he's far from a rental type or anything like that. As a small market, Arizona probably won't be that keen on retaining a lot of salary, so I've left it at 25%. If they can be talked into more, great. There also no signing bonus due to Dvorak, so it's a move that could hopefully wait until after the expansion draft.

The free agent backup goaltending market is really tough to call, not only due to the flat cap but also there are a ton of FA goalies due to the upcoming expansion draft, so it's really just a guess. My thought is that the top minute players and starting goalies are still going to get paid, but the backup goalies and players further down the lineup may get squeezed and not get the kind of contract offers they'd get other seasons when the cap would be going up.

I know this leaves them pretty bare in terms of draft picks, but if the "big 4" are going to stay intact this year I think they've got to push their pick and prospect trade chips in. If it goes well, who cares about the lack of picks. If it goes poorly (again) I think the "big 4" needs to come to an end and in that scenario, if they want to recoup picks, they'll be able to do that.

For the PP units, it's not laid out in a typical LW-C-RW fashion. Instead, an approximation of how they could be deployed with Hyman and Simmonds as the net front presence.

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