this isnt likely at all. Unless guys like Dach, Durzi etc are also getting dealt for next to nothing

Difference with Dach being Chicago could afford to sign him. Durzi only hurts the situation as now you have a supply of stud young D players that the team's dont have the cap space to sign, it'll drive the return down even more.

Toronto and LA will have no leverage if they want to keep their core together. Where do you find the 2+ that Sandin is going to want?

There is no way that the Leafs are giving up Sandin for only a 3rd round pick when he is a potential top pairing defenceman in the National Hockey League.

nope, for various reasons that make no sense, they are going to trade them for mid round picks at best. that's how it goes

So, again, where do you find the cap space to resign Sandin? No team is going to pay you for Kerfoot, Holl, or Muzzin knowing that you again, have no leverage. The few teams that have cap space will be demanding bigger and bigger asks for each million cleared for each week that goes by.

You are either going to loose Sandin's rights for cheap, or you are going to have to pay to move out enough cap to resign him to Anaheim, Arizona, Buffalo, or Chicago.

So what's the play, then. Sign him and hope someone with 2+ million gets hurt before the season begins and is put on LTIR? Pay to move Kerfoot to the team the gouges you the least for him on Oct 1 and call Robertson up?

You are still over the cap with this plan genius, the Leafs have 212,500 in overages this year.

Even with this plan, you are over the cap

well, you see, when players have value teams can trade them for assets. So yes, the leafs can indeed move Kerfoot, holl or other players for cap space. It is a well known tactic that teams, even ones near the cap, do all the time. They will then use that cap space to sign Sandin.
The other option they have is to not trade him for a hilariously terrible return.
Nothing of what you said is true

If this were a normal offseason, I would agree with you, but the leverage has changed, those who need the space significantly outnumber those who have it. Cap space is going to go to the highest bidder, so unless you are going to look at buyouts or buried cap penalty's, you're going to have to play ball.

@MatthewsFan, in my defense, SI missed that too, no need to insinuate that I am an idiot.
si.com/nhl/maple-leafs/analysis/why-the-maple-leafs-dont-need-to-force-a-trade-to-become-salary-cap-compliant

they'll still easily be traded if need be, the only difference will be return price

There's no chance the Leafs do this. They would be better served letting him sit. Even if a team offer sheets him, it will be for 3rd round pick compensation which you don't think they'd match. Any lower than that is a contract they could easily fit. If this was the play, they'd get the same result from doing nothing at all so obviously the better situation for them is to do nothing. Your thinking is inherently flawed.

Hell, the Leafs would be even better off letting him sit for an offer sheet since they'd get the 3rd round pick a year earlier. You managed to make a worse outcome for them than if they had done nothing at all.

So throw a 5th or 6th tacked on to make it technically better than an offer sheet, and again, where are you finding the cap room. As was pointed out earlier by MatthewsFan, even this roster doesn't work because of the carryover performance bonuses from last season push it over the cap.

Who are you moving, and what are you willing to pay in futures to move them. There's about 70 million in cap space amongst the "bottom feeding" teams before all four of them are at the cap ceiling, and all of them have their own plans and timelines regarding roster spots for young talent, so I would guess the real available number is 30-40 million, and there's what, 18+ teams out there looking to resign big name FAs and make a splash with a free agent, if not get below the cap ceiling themselves. There are probably 8-12 open "spots" to eat a big contract, and maybe a few more for lower AAV players.

I mean with this post you are suggesting the only way for them to be cap complaint is to just trade away Sandin (for a 3rd round pick) and just run a 20 man roster. The have a 5 game road trip (5 games in) what if someone gets injured on the road or sick. Nobody is running a 20 man roster in season.


What were you expecting with this post, this isn’t even remotely realistic.

Which is fine, cause this is a fantasy site. But I actually think you believe this could happen. And again, you are still over the cap. A trade has to happen

For a 1.3 mil contract, you can just start passing players through waivers. Put Holl through waivers and if no one claims him, pass Aubé-Kubel to the AHL and replace him with a Holmberg or Anderson. There's a very easy 1.4 mil cap space. Holl you aren't counting as a positive asset anyway, so the question becomes what's more valuable? 1 season of Aubé-Kubel or 5 of Sandin? Not a hard choice.

This is incorrect btw. Overages are included in that cap hit.

The Leafs are not working with a 82,500,000 salary cap (which is what he has)

The Leafs are operating under a 82,287,500 salary cap this season

And the way that is represented in the AGMs is the overage penalty being added on top of the contracts for a total cap hit. Do the math for the above team and then come back if you still want to try and argue that I'm wrong. You'll find they have $82,268,116 in contracts and the $212,500 penalty for a total cap hit of $82,480,616.

Yeah and the total salary of 20 man roster above is $82.268M so it’s still cap compliant.

Ugh, it’s not what is represented in here.

NHL Team Salary Cap

He still has 82,500,000 listed, which is incorrect.

Once he charges it to 82,287,500 this team is still over the cap. You are wrong

Pull out a calculator and do the work. Then come back so I can laugh. You aren't wrong about how the league perceives it, you are just wrong in how CapFriendly is programmed to display it.

😂

If you won’t believe me that’s fine.

Here is the Leafs and every other NHL teams salary cap this year

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailyfaceoff.com/only-7-nhl-teams-will-have-the-full-82-5-million-salary-cap-to-spend-next-season/%3Famp

You are spending all this time arguing with me rather than adding up 20 numbers in a calculator. it is definitive proof of you being wrong. You can spin in circles all you want but the math is undeniable.

Not time to panic yet, and other teams with similar (some worse) situations but not looking like there is an easy answer. Covid has expised the serious flaws in this “obsession with parity” salary cap / revenue sharing system the nhl has created. If no trade partner emerges, Leafs could move Kerfoot and Holl to minors and hope someone claimed them off waivers. That would be far from ideal but it would free up space to sign Sandin (~$1.6M); however if no one claimed then - you’d still be stuck at 20 man roster. In Dubas & Pridham we trust 🤞

Here is your calculator noodle

If you want me to humiliate you, fine. Give me a few mins to get it set up.