Insider discusses the salary cap implications for the Leafs if Minten makes the team
On the heels of yet another solid performance for 19-year-old Fraser Minten against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, all of the talk is now on his final pre-season game tomorrow night and his final chance to make the Leafs out of training camp.
For many in Leafs Nation who have watched him play throughout the pre-season, the common belief is that Minten deserves a roster spot based on his play. However, as Darren Dreger pointed out on Friday, there's also some salary cap considerations here as well.
It's cap management, no question about it. It's a good problem to have, because, unexpectedly, Fraser Minten is soundly in the discussion [to play in the NHL]. I'm still largely in the camp that believes that this guy is going back to Kamloops. The question is, when? Would they consider burning off a year?"
Dreger hypothesized that the Leafs could be completely fine with burning a year of Minten's entry-level deal and allow him to begin the season with the Leafs just to see what he can do over the first few months, leading up to the World Junior Championships, as Minten is believed to be among the favourites to earn a roster spot with Team Canada this year. Dreger proposed that the Leafs could use the WJC tourney as a bit of an evaluation period where they look at his total body of work in Toronto combined with his body of work at the World Juniors and then make a determination on where he'll play at the conclusion of the tournament in January. If he deserves to stay with the Leafs, they can simply opt to keep him up with the big club. If they feel that he may benefit from a little more seasoning, they can simply re-assign him to his junior club in Kamloops.
Personally, I believe that Minten has shown enough to begin the season in Toronto. If the goal is to ice the best roster possible, Minten is on that roster, in my mind. His play as the team's 3rd line center has been very solid and, let's face it - Nylander looks much better on the wing than he does at center. When you add to that the fact that Matthew Knies and Minten have looked great together this pre-season, the Buds will have 2/3 of a solid 3rd line right there. If they can manage to remain cap compliant and still keep Calle Jarnkrok on the roster, the forward groups could look something like this on opening night:
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner
Domi-Tavares-Nylander
Knies-Minten-Jarnkrok
Gregor-Kampf-Reaves
When compared to last year's opening night roster, this looks like steak and lobster. I'll be interested to see which way they go, but I like the idea of Minten beginning of the year in Toronto, simply because it makes the team better.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 6 | 147 ANSWERS Insider discusses the salary cap implications for the Leafs if Minten makes the team Should the Leafs burn a year of Minten's ELC and keep him with the team until the World Juniors? | ||
| Yes | 90 | 61.2 % |
| No | 57 | 38.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
