Sheldon Keefe reveals how the Leafs' tough roster decisions were handled to become cap compliant
The Leafs are officially cap compliant after placing a handful of NHL veterans on waivers on Sunday and assigning 8 players (Kyle Clifford, Adam Gaudette, Pontus Holmberg, Filip Král, Victor Mete, Nick Robertson, Wayne Simmonds, William Villeneuve) to the AHL's Toronto Marlies and placing two (Jordie Benn and Timothy Liljegren) on LTIR on Monday. The only issue? They're down to a 20-man roster and if John Tavares isn't healthy enough to go in time for Wednesday's home opener, they'll be playing a man short and going with 19 against the Habs.
It was no easy task for the Leafs to become cap compliant, as a very competitive training camp made the roster decisions very tough on the coaching staff. There was another factor in the team making their final roster decisions though - the salary cap - and in this case, it forced the Leafs to demote a player who deserved to make the team in 21-year-old Nick Robertson, who shared in the team lead for points (8) in the preseason.
"It's an unfortunate situation for a player that's worked really hard. We have all the confidence that he'll be back here when needed."
-Sheldon Keefe on Robertson deserving a roster spot but being demoted anyway
-Sheldon Keefe on Robertson deserving a roster spot but being demoted anyway
In the end, it came down to the other co-leader, Denis Malgin, requiring waivers to be sent down to the AHL, whereas Roberton was waiver-exempt and did not need to pass through waivers to be assigned to the Marlies. Were it up to Keefe, both Malgin and Robertson would have made the team. Unfortunately, however, the salary cap was a significant factor in the Leafs not being able to carry a 21-man roster.
"It's a factor, no doubt. I've been in some meetings I've left pretty confused about a lot of the factors that are at play outside of the actual evaluation of the players... The system is what it is, and our situation is what it is."
-Keefe on the salary cap presenting a variety challenges for the Leafs
-Keefe on the salary cap presenting a variety challenges for the Leafs
In a perfect world, a global pandemic doesn't put the world on hold and lead to a flattening salary cap. Were it not for the pandemic, the cap likely sits near or potentially above $90M right now and none of this is even an issue. In fact, with a cap that had continued to rise season over season, as was originally projected, likely allows the Leafs to come into the season with a full 23-man roster. Unfortunately, the pandemic did hit, it did impact the salary cap and here we are.
Fortunately, these problems are only temporary for the Leafs. When Timothy Liljegren and Jordie Benn are eligible to return, the Leafs will make a move to free up some cap space, which, depending on who they elect to move, may provide them with some extra wiggle room under the cap. The Buds could essentially fit both Benn and Liljegren in if they deal Pierre Engvall and his $2.25M cap hit, but if they want to create some extra space, there's always the final year of Alex Kerfoot's deal and his $3.5M cap hit that can be moved to give the Leafs more options and the ability to not only re-add Liljegren ($1.4M) and Benn ($750K), but also Robertson ($796K), leaving the Leafs with a little over $500K left with which to begin accruing some deadline cap space.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 11 | 211 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe reveals how the Leafs' tough roster decisions were handled to become cap compliant Did the Leafs make the right decision to send Robertson down over waiving Denis Malgin? | ||
| Yes, no use losing a good player on waivers | 150 | 71.1 % |
| No, Robertson deserved the spot more | 25 | 11.8 % |
| I'm not sure, let's see how it plays out | 36 | 17.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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