One huge plus for the Maple Leafs ahead of the 2024-25 season

The Leafs are among the most creative teams in the NHL when it comes to managing the cap, largely due to having Brandon Pridham on the payroll. Pridham, who actually helped write the CBA, is a salary cap expert and has provided the Leafs with more than their money's worth in terms of his salary as assistant GM.

Pridham's job has not been an easy one, as the Leafs have spent to the cap almost every single season, with little flexibility for the GMs to operate. Still, he has always found a way. Now, his job is about to get a little bit easier.

After playing the entire 2023-24 season with a ton of money tied up in Long-Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), the Maple Leafs, as of this point, will enter the 2024-25 season with $0 on LTIR.

With the expiration of deals for John Klingberg, Jake Muzzin and Matt Murray, the Leafs will be in an enviable position in 2024-25, being able to actually accrue cap space throughout the year, which could help them exponentially come deadline time.

For those who don't understand what accruing cap space is, it's basically just if the Leafs keep open cap space on their roster, it begins to accumulate over time and ultimately becomes cap space they can use at the trade deadline to bring in an impact player without needing to worry so much about salary retention.

Imagine heading into the deadline with $5M to spend without having to subtract anything from the roster as it stands at that point. It's not difficult to see why that can be a game-changer. Being able to operate without the use of LTIR savings is such a very underrated asset - one that the Leafs haven't had for some time.