Breaking: Salary cap may rise substantially ahead of schedule, which would be a huge relief for the Leafs

According to Sportsnet's Ryan Pike, the salary cap may increase by a substantial amount after the 2023-24 season - a whole year before the cap was otherwise scheduled to go up. This is excellent news for each of the league's cap teams, but especially for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have some pretty significant deals coming up.

The Leafs have both Auston Matthews and William Nylander coming due for contract extensions next summer - a year in advance of when their current deals expire in the summer of 2024. John Tavares and Mitch Marner will come due for new extensions then as well, as their deals expire in 2025.

We shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves in assuming anything, as the Leafs' success this upcoming season and in the playoffs could have a profound impact in what happens next summer.

We have heard Kyle Dubas say in the past "we can and we will" in relation to his ability to keep the core 4 together. There's really no telling what the Leafs will plan to do if they experience another disappointing first round loss next spring, but I would imagine that if Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas are on the hot seat, we could see some pretty big changes in terms of the on-ice personnel. If Shanahan and/or Dubas are let go, that is even more likely to result in sweeping changes to the team by whoever the new upper-management regime will be.

Assuming everything goes according to plan this year and that the Leafs go on a run in the playoffs next spring, I'm sure we'll see a MASSIVE extension for Auston Matthews. Nylander's still a bit of an enigma and not just in the sense that you never know what's going to happen with him out on the ice, but also because of the tumultuous negotiations between Nylander and Dubas the last time around.

If what we're seeing right now with Nylander's agent (Lewis Gross) and Rasmus Sandin is any indication, another Nylander holdout and a potential walk to free agency could be in the cards.