With the final roster decision announced today, and barring any last minute maneuvers, the Maple Leafs have their 23 men for opening day on Wednesday. We know who they are, so let’s add up what they cost.

2017 Maple Leafs opening day roster

Player#PosCap HitShHtWtBornBirthplace
Nathan HortonLTIR:5,300,0000-----
Tyler Bozak (A)42C4,200,000R6' 1"199Mar 19, 1986Regina, SK, CAN
Connor Brown28RW2,100,000R6' 0"185Jan 14, 1994Toronto, ON, CAN
Eric Fehr23C2,000,000R6' 4"208Sep 7, 1985Winkler, MB, CAN
Zach Hyman11C2,250,000R6' 1"212Jun 9, 1992Toronto, ON, CAN
Nazem Kadri43C4,500,000L6' 0"190Oct 6, 1990London, ON, CAN
Leo Komarov (A)47C2,950,000L5' 11"209Jan 23, 1987Narva, EST
Josh Leivo32LW612,500R6' 2"210May 26, 1993Innisfil, ON, CAN
Joffrey Lupul *19LW5,250,000R6' 1"206Sep 23, 1983Fort Saskatchewan, AB, CAN
Patrick Marleau12C6,250,000L6' 2"215Sep 15, 1979Aneroid, SK, CAN
Mitchell Marner16C894,167R6' 0"175May 5, 1997Markham, ON, CAN
Matt Martin15LW2,500,000L6' 3"220May 8, 1989Windsor, ON, CAN
Auston Matthews34C925,000L6' 3"216Sep 17, 1997Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Dominic Moore28C1,000,000L6' 0"192Aug 3, 1980Thornhill, ON, CAN
William Nylander29C894,167R6' 0"191May 1, 1996Calgary, AB, CAN
James van Riemsdyk25LW4,250,000L6' 3"217May 4, 1989Middletown, NJ, USA
Andreas Borgman55D925,000L6' 0"212Jun 18, 1995Stockholm, SWE
Connor Carrick8D750,000R5' 10"192Apr 13, 1994Orland Park, IL, USA
Jake Gardiner51D4,050,000L6' 2"200Jul 4, 1990Minnetonka, MN, USA
Ron Hainsey2D3,000,000L6' 3"205Mar 24, 1981Bolton, CT, USA
Martin Marincin52D1,250,000L6' 5"212Feb 18, 1992Kosice, SVK
Morgan Rielly (A)44D5,000,000L6' 1"217Mar 9, 1994Vancouver, BC, CAN
Nikita Zaitsev22D4,500,000R6' 2"195Oct 29, 1991Moscow, RUS
Frederik Andersen31G5,000,000-6' 4"230Oct 2, 1989Herning, DNK
Curtis McElhinney35G850,000-6' 2"200May 23, 1983London, ON, CAN
65,900,834

Added to that number above for salaries (less Nathan Horton only, please note) is the following dead money:

2017 Maple Leafs dead money

DescriptionAmount
Phil Kessel retained salary1,200,000
Tim Gleason buyout1,333,333
Jared Cowen buyout750,000
Bonus overages prior year5,370,000
Total:8,653,333

The total of salaries and dead money is: 8,653,333 + 65,900,834 = 74,554,167.  Without Joffrey Lupul on LTIR, the Leafs have $445,833 in space, subject to the rules about using LTIR, which we won’t delve into here.  As an approximation, it makes the point that they don’t have room to call up even one player to replace someone on IR.

What they would have to do is send someone back the other way, and with only one waiver-exempt player on the team who isn’t a core player, that can become difficult. While the Leafs don’t have to designate Lupul to LTIR now, as we now know they are allowed to, they will need to in order to handle injury replacements without ending up in a bind where they have to waive someone just to make room.

Joffrey Lupul to go on LTIR: report

The Lupul situation was never actually affecting the Leafs’ roster choices, but it would have been very difficult to handle the whole season without the option to get relief from his salary. Which is what LTIR is for, after all.

The downside to operating in LTIR space is that the projected performance bonuses for this year can total as much as $4,550,000.  Unless the Leafs shed a salary to be under the cap without LTIR, all of the final bonus tally will roll over to next year.

But since the Leafs are in LTIR space anyway, they can’t get under the cap without the relief from Horton’s cap hit, then why not use some of that space provided with Lupul on LTIR as well? If they don’t, they are essentially operating well below the cap.

It’s unlikely the team will go out and add players right now, but when the deadline is looming and they know what they’re doing with their pending UFAs, they may chose to add someone as well as subtract.

All numbers are from CapFriendly, and now that the season is here, please see the Toronto Maple Leafs page there for current cap space information updated regularly.

Analysis