Maple Leafs Cap Space: Post Kadri Trade

Will all these RFAs who need contracts still fit?

The Maple Leafs made a blockbuster trade at the sleepy end of Free Agent Day. They subtracted Nazem Kadri and Calle Rosen from the roster and added Tyson Barrie at half his normal cap hit, and acquired the rights to Alexander Kerfoot.

Kerfoot might hold the key to the rest of the Leafs’ summer. His contract and how it fits in with Mitch Marner’s will determine if there is any room left for anyone else.

Notes:

• I’ve added all the rumoured signings and tried to come up with a projected regular season roster that has all the players likely to be on the team on it.
• Missing from this calculation is Ceci’s reported $4.5 million, and whatever Kerfoot and Marner sign for.

Right now the offseason space is fine, and Marner can be signed, and likely the other two will fit without LTIR being invoked, but it’s there if needed. The Leafs are now substantially less at risk of an offer sheet for Mitch Marner being impossible to match.

If you assume this roster, or one similar, and add in Ceci’s $4.5 million, the space becomes: $8,390,301. And if you do the quick and dirty LTIR on Horton’s $5.3 million and just add those together you have $13,690,000 to sign Marner and Kerfoot. If Kerfoot signs for the projection Evolving Hockey has of $2.8 million, that leaves over $10 million to squeak in Marner’s contract.

And that means, all of this fits, and if more than 10 million is needed, all the Leafs have to do is run a short press box.

If this is true:

Then the squeeze is back on a little.

Kyle Dubas got that top four defender, can sign everyone, and did the impossible. Just in the hardest and most painful way possible. It was a sharp cut, and I’m not sure we can feel yet.