- Toronto sits $2,752,382 over the $104 million cap with all 23 roster spots filled
- Max Domi and his $3.75 million hit are LTIR-bound, which buys the Leafs the room
- Read below for the other teams still over the ceiling and Toronto’s backup plan
The Maple Leafs are going to open training camp over the salary cap.
Toronto carries a $106,752,382 cap charge against a $104 million ceiling, per PuckPedia, which puts the club $2,752,382 in the red with a full 23-man roster. Nine notable additions this summer did that, and new general manager John Chayka made every one of them.
The fix is already sitting there. Max Domi had back surgery in late May, hit complications, and has been out indefinitely since. Park his $3.75 million on long-term injured reserve and the overage stops mattering.
Chayka was asked in June how Domi was coming along and would not put a date on anything.
“Ultimately we’ll get to training camp and assess him from there. He’s making great progress every day which is the main thing.”
LTIR does not hand a team money. It hands them permission to go past the ceiling by roughly the amount of the injured player’s hit, and it only kicks in once the season starts. Vegas has been building around that math all summer with Alex Pietrangelo, and the Golden Knights plan to submit an opening roster $8.8 million over the cap because of it.
Four clubs are still working through this. The Hockey News counted Vegas at $8.66 million over, Toronto at $2.75 million, Dallas at $1.36 million and Florida sitting a hair under the line with only 22 bodies signed.
Domi getting healthy is what turns this back into a real problem. If he plays, someone has to go, and Dakota Joshua’s $3.25 million is the cleanest piece to move.
Look a year out and the picture flips completely. Brian La Rose of Pro Hockey Rumors noted the Leafs have zero pending free agents next summer among projected roster players, with 23 signed and $6.75 million of room under a projected $113.5 million ceiling.
That is the trade-off of the roster Chayka rebuilt around Gavin McKenna. No flexibility now, no decisions to make later.
Camp opens in Toronto in a couple of weeks, and the only live question in the cap file is whether Domi is healthy enough to create a problem.
