Toronto Maple Leafs 2010-11 Salary Cap Commitments: What Should They Do?

Next season brings an air of optimism to the Toronto Maple Leafs and fans are excited to see what this new and improved team can bring to the table. While there is room available for improvement, there are also a lot of cap situations that the Leafs have to deal with. I am as hopeful as everybody else out there that the Leafs can be a playoff contender come next season, but I do not want to see that come at a risk that could cause the franchise to tumble back down to where it was a few years ago. Even if a team like that were able to do well next season, I would still consider it a failure for the franchise.

People have many different opinions on what the Leafs should do for next season, but you have to look at things realistically and determine what sort of impact this would have on their salary cap. I would love nothing more than to see some nice additions to the roster, but such moves are made it is important to understand what can logically happen for the team to stay under the cap.

So far the Leafs' cap commitments look something like the following:

Dion Phaneuf: signed through 2013-14 with cap hit of $6.5M a year.

J.S. Giguere: signed through 2010-11 with cap hit of $6.0M a year.

Tomas Kaberle: signed through 2010-11 with cap hit of $4.25M a year.

Mike Komisarek: signed through 2013-14 with cap hit of $4.5M a year.

Francois Beauchemin: signed through 2011-12 with cap hit of $3.8M a year.

Luke Schenn: signed through 2010-11 with potential cap hit of $2.975M a year (bonuses included).

Carl Gunnarsson: signed through 2011-12 with cap hit of $0.626M a year.

Fredrik Sjostrom: signed through 2010-11 with cap hit of $0.750M a year.

Mikhail Grabovski: signed through 2011-12  with cap hit of $2.9M a year.

Tyler Bozak: signed through 2010-11 with potential cap hit of $3.75M a year (bonuses included).

Colton Orr: signed through 2012-13 with cap hit of $1.0M a year.

Viktor Stalberg: signed through 2010-11 with cap hit of $0.715M a year.

Phil Kessel: signed through 2013-14 with cap hit of $5.4M a year.

Jeff Finger: signed through 2011-12 with cap hit of $3.5M a year.

The above players are those currently on the roster and who most people feel have a good chance of maintaining their spot unless an alternative route is taken. The Leafs also have a few younger players who could make some noise at training camp and maybe take a roster spot: Luca Caputi, signed through 2010-11, Brayden Irwin, who just signed a two-year deal with the Leafs, and Nazem Kadri, whose entry-level contract has not yet been activated.

With the salary cap expected to go up to around $57.8 million, and the Leafs having around $48.4M dedicated to next year, this leaves $9.4 million available to handle off-season signings and acquisitions.

Players at the top of the Leafs' list to resign would be current RFA's Nikolai Kulemin, John Mitchell, Christian Hanson, and Jonas Gustavsson. Kulemin has already shown us what he is made of and will likely attract a lot of attention as an RFA if he is not resigned soon. Some teams may be willing to sign Kulemin to a big offer sheet so I believe that if the Leafs are serious about keeping him they will need to sign him a multi-year deal worth around $2.5-$3.5 million a year, possibly a little more if no deal is made before free agency.

I believe Mitchell will most likely re-sign with the Leafs to a one-year deal before free agency. He has already showed that he has the skill that can help this team in the future with his good defensive play. If he is re-signed, I think he will be offered anywhere from $1-$2 million, but I cannot be certain due to his lack of success this season resulting from injury.

Hanson's case is somewhat similar to Mitchell's. After giving the fans some hope for promise at the end of last season with a goal and an assist in a handful of games, Hanson went on to have an abysmal season so far for the Leafs scoring no goals and amassing only four assists in 30 games. However, Hanson has only been a minus-three on the season which I think is very respectable for a young player on the worst defensive team in the league. Hanson just needs a little bit more time than the others to develop, and I thought that was what we were doing here. Just because he isn't doing as well as the other rookies in Bozak, Stalberg, and Gunnarsson, we can't rush a player's development. Hopefully, Brian Burke is not stupid enough to give up on a young player like Hanson so soon. He saw something in him when he signed him and I'm sure he will give him another chance. I see Hanson signing a two-year two-way contract worth in the neighbourhood of $1-$1.5 million a year. He will be a lot better next year, just wait.

Gustavsson is probably one of the key players that the Leafs would like to bring back next season. He had some rough patches as the season went on, but he looked very solid and started to prove his worth down the stretch, posting one of the best records in the league. Although people are calling him the saviour, there is still a lot of development needed to become a true number one goalie in the NHL. I think that Gustavsson will also come back to the Leafs signing a two-year deal. A two-year deal would benefit him more than a one-year deal, because it will allow him to focus on his development and not solely on his performance. If the Leafs are serious about keeping him I think they will need to sign him for around $3 million a year along with some defensive bonuses to encourage his development and not just performance.

If the Leafs are able to resign all these players that will leave them with barely any money to spend in acquiring free agents. Depending on whether Hanson would start in the minors or with the big club also factors in, because in the minors his salary does not count against the salary cap. The Leafs also have a few UFA's for this coming offseason in Mike Van Ryn, Garnett Exelby, Jonas Frogren, Jamie Lundmark, Wayne Primeau, and Rickard Wallin.

All the defensemen are more than likely going to leave the Leafs, but I am sure that Brian Burke will want to resign one (maybe even two) of these players. Jamie Lundmark would be my favorite to see returning next year. He is a good two-way player who also has the ability to produce offensively as well. If the Leafs were to re-sign Wayne Primeau they would retain his grit and leadership. As for Rickard Wallin I don't really want to see him back but he is really only being considered in my opinion to encourage Gustavsson to resign. If that incentive works, then I would love to see Wallin back next year over the other two.

After all of the current roster signings, there won't be much money left for any big offseason free agent signings unless the Leafs find a way to dispose of Finger's huge contract. Burke is probably doing all he can to find a taker for Finger through draft options, but if worse comes to worse the Leafs might just have to put him through waivers, and if no one claims him play him with the Marlies to negate his salary or just cut straight to the chase and buy him out. All in all, getting rid of Finger's salary would be the only way that the Leafs could be able to sign free agents in the off-season. It would also free up cap space in case Burke goes after a big top six forward with a Kaberle deal, a player of a James Neal or Bobby Ryan caliber (big, young power forwards who can score).

I also composed a list of some other young players around the league whose style of play would fit the style of team that Burke has made: Jakub Voracek, Bryan Little, Kyle Okposo (or Matt Moulson), Chris Stewart, Peter Mueller, David Perron, or Brooks Laich.

I'm just wondering what people think is the realistic chance of the Leafs being able to get one of these players. All in all, it's looking like it will once again be another interesting offseason for the Leafs as we look forward to next season.

Looking forward to reading your comments.

Til next time.