The top players are expected to carry their team, especially if they are eating up over 50 percent of their team’s cap space. Five players on the Toronto Maple Leafs will take up over $54 million average annual value (AAV) of their salary cap next season, including Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander, after Nylander signed an eight-year deal worth $11.5 million AAV.
The salary cap is at $83.5 million this season and should go up to about $88 million. While every team has to deal with contracts, the Maple Leafs have already locked up two of their top-five players in the past year (Matthews & Nylander) to take up much more cap space than what their hits are this season.
The core four on the Maple Leafs have done the team no favours in contract extensions. Some would say that’s why they are lacking in other areas and couldn’t get out of the first round of the playoffs for so long despite being a stellar regular-season team. Their top five players have the five highest salaries on the team and their percentage of the cap pushes the limits of ridiculousness. Assuming the cap does go up to $88 million, those five players will account for over 61 percent of the team’s cap space with 15-18 players left to be signed or fill the roster for around $2 million AAV per player.
Meanwhile, the top five players on the Edmonton Oilers have proven time and time again that they are more productive, on better contracts, and can help push their team to victories when games matter the most in the playoffs. The Oilers’ top five include almost every member of their top power-play unit: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. These aren’t the top-five paid players on the team, but they are the best.
Maple Leafs vs Oilers Comparison
The Oilers’ five best players eat up $35.5 million in cap space, which comes to 40 percent if the cap rises to $88 million. That is a massive difference to the Maple Leafs, who are fairly similar in many regards.
Comparing contracts isn’t worth much if we don’t look at productivity. This season, even after McDavid dealt with an injury early on and the team’s horrible start, the Oilers have scored seven fewer goals and two more points in seven fewer games combined. The chart below compares the Oilers’ five best players’ numbers this season to the Maple Leafs’.
| 2023-24 | Games Played | Goals | Points |
| Oilers | 192 | 83 | 222 |
| Maple Leafs | 199 | 89 | 217 |
Led by each of these core groups, the Maple Leafs have won one playoff series (last season) in their time together, while the Oilers have won three playoff series in the past two seasons, losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions in both years.
The Oilers’ top five players aren’t the only impactful players on a roster that also includes Darnell Nurse, Matthias Ekholm, and Evander Kane. If we add up their cap hits as well, it brings the Oilers to $56 million – which is only $2 million more than the cost of the Maple Leafs’ five best players.
The Maple Leafs won’t be able to keep certain players with $34 million to spend on 15-18 roster spots. Toronto has four of the top 11 highest-paid players in the league next season and the highest-paid player in terms of AAV. The Oilers have one player in the top 30 and are more productive.
The difference in the Oilers’ productivity from the Maple Leafs going back to last season was far greater as well. The Oilers blew the Maple Leafs out of the water in terms of how the five best players performed. Below shows how much those players on the Oilers outplayed Toronto’s.
| 2022-23 | Games Played | Goals | Points |
| Oilers | 405 | 197 | 508 |
| Maple Leafs | 381 | 150 | 392 |
The makeup of the Maple Leafs roster is and will continue to be very top-heavy because of these contracts. In conparison, the other way to look at it is that the top players for the Oilers are a massive bargain and they have room to have other key contributors on the roster.
While certain decisions by general manager Ken Holland have hurt the Oilers, they still have more cap space to work with when trying to find the right pieces. They also don’t have to go out and find as many steals through free agency or trades with other core players still signed.
Related: Insider Links Oilers to Flyers & Senators for Top-6 Forward
What the Oilers have is much more valuable and cost-effective than what the Maple Leafs have. This includes more effective players and better contracts. The Oilers will have to deal with new contracts soon, but so will the Maple Leafs, with Marner and Tavares.
We know the Oilers’ top players make more of an impact than those on the Maple Leafs, and there’s no reason to think that they won’t continue to do so at a more team-friendly price.