A closer look at how much the Leafs actually have to spend at the deadline; it's a lot more than most think
The Toronto Maple Leafs made a bit of a surprising roster move on Wednesday afternoon, placing Joey Anderson on waivers. This is a player that the Leafs had hoped would be able to take the next step in his development this year and while the production hasn't quite been there (3 points in 14 games with the Leafs this season), we have seen a noticeable uptick in the intensity and work ethic.
The original thought is that the Buds are hoping that the 24-year-old clears waivers, because you can never have too much depth. Either way - whether Anderson clears or is claimed by another team, the end result is the same for the Buds; they'll be clearing some cap space.
According to CapFriendly, if Anderson is either cleared and assigned to the AHL or claimed by another team, once Matt Murray is activated from LTIR, the Leafs will have nearly $500K in cap space, which will increase to ~$1.25M when Joseph Woll (emergency loan) is returned to the Marlies. It will also drop the Leafs to a 22-man roster, rather than the standard 23-man roster. That number can increase to around $2M if the Buds decide to waive veteran blueliner Jordie Benn and drop to a 21-man roster.
That number ($2M) is an interesting number, because it's the exact number that Blackhawks defenseman Jake McCabe would cost if 50% of his $4M AAV is retained in a deal with the Hawks. There's no guarantee that he'll be the guy that Kyle Dubas targets before the deadline, but that is an interesting number nonetheless. Even more interesting - if the Leafs want to trade Justin Holl and his $2M cap hit, that covers McCabe's $4M salary without having to worry about retention, which would reduce the price that the Leafs would have to pay for McCabe and allow them to retain the additional assets that it would cost to have the Hawks retain on McCabe.
What's really interesting is what happens if the Leafs decide to move someone on the active roster. Alexander Kerfoot is the most logical choice, after the Ryan O'Reilly trade seems to have rendered some of Kerfoot's versatility a surplus. His $3.5M cap hit, combined with the $2M that the Leafs can easily open up with some minor moves equals $5.5M in available cap space with a 20-man roster. At the deadline, a GM can do a lot of damage with that kind of cap space available - especially if other GM's are willing to retain salary.
If Dubas is finally prepared to go all-in and if he is prepared to do what it takes to give the team the best chance to win, including trading Kerfoot - a guy who the team seems to have a lot of faith in - it will give him a solid opportunity to make yet another impact add, possible two before the deadline. Imagine this team, minus Kerfoot, but with an additional impact defenseman AND another middle-six winger. The money is there, if Dubas chooses to go down that path.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 23 | 491 ANSWERS A closer look at how much the Leafs actually have to spend at the deadline; it's a lot more than most think How many more trades do you see the Leafs making before the deadline? | ||
| 0-1 | 231 | 47 % |
| 2-3 | 248 | 50.5 % |
| 4 or more | 12 | 2.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
