On June 8, the Commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, announced the salary cap for the 2024-25 season will be $300,000 higher than the original forecast. While it is just a 3.4% higher increase than the forecasted $87.7 million, it is still great news for two reasons. First, the move means the NHL is in better financial shape than initially expected. While it is not a guarantee that future hikes in the salary cap will be higher, it means they will most likely be higher.
On top of that, the Coyotes’ struggles in Arizona have been no secret. They had been playing in a college rink with a capacity of just 5,000 fans, and there was no promise of a bigger rink in the near future. With the team relocating to Utah and playing in an arena that will seat over 18,000 fans, it has to be a good financial move for the team and the NHL. That in itself should mean a higher salary cap in years to come.
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If the Toronto Maple Leafs decide to keep the present core intact, something that seems more likely with what we are hearing from general manager Brad Treliving lately, having more money to play with, even if it is just 3.4% more, has to be good news. The upcoming season would always be a tight one cap-wise for the Maple Leafs.
If the 2024-25 Season Were to Begin Tomorrow
One of our goals today is to figure out if the 2024-25 season were to start tomorrow, what would be the best possible lineup the Maple Leafs could put on the ice using players they presently have with signed contracts. That would include 12 forwards, six defencemen, and two goalies for a 20-man roster. Our second goal is to see how much cap space the Maple Leafs will have remaining, which they can use to improve the roster.
Note: We are just guessing what the lines would or could look like using the present lineup.
The Current Maple Leafs Forwards
| Matthew Knies ($925,000) | Auston Matthews ($13.25 million) | Mitch Marner ($10.9 million) |
| Easton Cowan ($905,000) | John Tavares ($11 million) | William Nylander ($11.5 million) |
| Bobby McMann ($1.35 million) | Pontus Holmberg ($800,000) | Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1 million) |
| Fraser Minton ($816,000) | David Kampf ($2.4 million) | Ryan Reaves ($1.35 million) |
Those 12 forwards take up a total of $57.296 million in cap space.
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The Current Maple Leafs Defence
| Morgan Rielly ($7.5 million) | Jake McCabe ($2 million) |
| Simon Benoit ($1.35 million) | Conor Timmins ($1.1 million) |
| Cade Webber ($875,000) | Marshall Rifai ($775,000) |
The six defencemen have a total cap hit of $13.6 million.
The Current Maple Leafs Goaltenders
| Joseph Woll ($767,000) | Dennis Hildeby ($843,000) |
The two goalies take up $1.61 million in cap space.
Right Now, the Maple Leafs Forward Units Don’t Look Bad
With the above lineup, the forward contingent doesn’t look that bad to start the season. We would not like that lineup for the postseason, but it could hold its own for the regular season and would most likely be good enough to make the playoffs.
The biggest weaknesses lie on defence and in the net. Benoit and Timmins are, at best, a third-pairing and we can’t see the team being willing to start the season with Webber and Rifai on the roster. A lefthanded and a righthanded top-four defenceman or two righthanded top-four defencemen allowing McCabe to switch to his proper side are essential. On top of that, more depth is needed. There are always injuries that need to be dealt with.
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In goal, the team has to decide if it wants a known number-one goaltender to take over the top spot and use Woll as the backup or a lower-cost veteran to share the net with Woll for now and use Hildeby as a third option. Then, if needed during the season, the team will look for another goalie.
Looking at Toronto’s Current 20-Man Roster
Much depends on how much cap space the Maple Leafs have and where they want to utilize it. With the above 20-man roster, what would their cap situation be? If we total it all up, we see the following:
| Position | Total Salaries |
| Forwards | $57.296 million |
| Defence | $13.6 million |
| Goaltending | $1.61 million |
| Total | $72.506 million |
| 2024-25 Salary Cap | $88 million |
| Remaining Cap Space | $15.494 million |
The Bottom Line Is That the Maple Leafs Need More Depth
With the biggest need being two top-four defencemen and a goalie, $15.494 million is not a lot of cap space to work with. More depth is also needed on defence, plus it would be more desirable to carry one extra forward and an extra defenceman. No matter how you look at it, if the team wants to bring back the present core to give them another shot under new head coach Craig Berube, they will struggle to remain under the salary cap.
We plan to monitor and report on the roster and salary cap situation as the team makes new acquisitions and roster changes over the coming months.
[Note: I want to thank long-time Maple Leafs fan Stan Smith for collaborating with me on this post. Stan’s Facebook profile can be found here.]
