Insider reveals how the Leafs plan to deal with being over the cap and it could involve LTIR
We are officially 48 hours out from the start of NHL training camps and for the Leafs, who are still nearly $1.5M over the salary cap, something's gotta give. The Leafs are still entrenched in tough contract negotiations with RFA defenseman Rasmus Sandin, who appears to be looking for $2.3M per season with the Leafs reportedly stuck around $1.4M - the same AAV they just dolled out for two more years of Timothy Liljegren.
The Leafs now have approximately 3 weeks to become cap compliant, but with the uncertainty of what Sandin is going to cost, they don't yet know how much space they need to free up. Well, if a Monday report from TSN's Chris Johnston is any indication, they may not have to give up anything at all - at least to start.
Johnston reported on Monday that the Leafs could have multiple players slated to open the season on either IR or LTIR.
Jake Muzzin is one name that could make some sense, given the injury troubles he struggled with last season, but that's pure speculation on my part. If Muzzin and his $5.625M AAV wound up opening the season on LTIR, it would delay the Leafs' necessity to clear out some cap space. The only problem with that is that if the Leafs do start the season with players on LTIR - especially on the blueline, that could certainly impact the Sandin talks. In addition, it would disable the Leafs from being able to begin accruing cap space until their LTIR situation is resolved.
