According to the website Puckpedia.com, at the time of writing, the Toronto Maple Leafs have 18 forwards on their roster and will soon add the newly signed Alex Nylander to bring that total to 19. They also have nine defensemen and two goalies, for a total of 30 players.
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This post will address the question, “How can they fit that many players and their salary cap when teams are allowed to have just 23 players with a total cap hit of $88 million on their active roster?”
The Maple Leafs Have Suffered a Slew of Injuries
The Maple Leafs have been dealing with many injuries over the past few weeks. It started with Auston Matthews, who last played a game on Nov. 3. What was first reported as a day-to-day injury that had been nagging him for a while has stretched out to 20 days and counting, including a trip to Germany to see a specialist.
Since then, several players (all forwards) have been placed in the injured reserve (IR) or long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Those players are Max Pacioretty (LTIR), Max Domi (IR), David Kampf (LTIR), and Matthew Knies (IR). They joined Calle Jarnkrok, who has been on LTIR since the beginning of the season. It was reported that Jarnkrok might miss the remainder of the season due to his injury.
Also on LTIR from the start of the season is defenseman Dakota Mermis, who the Maple Leafs signed as a free agent this past summer. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken jaw during the preseason. On top of that, they now have Ryan Reaves on a five-game suspension, who still counts as a roster player and whose salary counts toward the salary cap.
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At the same time, all of the above players have been lost to injury, and two players have returned from LTIR: forward Conor Dewar and defenseman Jani Hakanpaa. To replace those lost bodies, the Maple Leafs have called up Alex Steeves, Fraser Minton, Nikita Grebenkin (or Grebyonkin), and now William Nylander’s brother Alex from the Toronto Marlies. Philippe Myers has also returned from his conditioning stint with the Marlies.
How the Maple Leafs Are Squeezing 30 Players into 23 Roster Spots
That is 30 players with a total cap hit of over $91,800,000. How can they do this when rosters are limited to 23 players with a combined cap hit of $88,000,000? First, there are differences between LTIR and IR. LTIR is used when a player is hurt badly enough that they are expected to be out of action for weeks. When a player is placed on LTIR, they must miss at least ten games and 24 days, whichever is longer. Once a player is placed on LTIR, a team can go over the salary cap to a maximum of that player’s cap hit, and the team can go over the 23-player roster limit by one player.
A player can be placed on IR if the player’s injury is not bad enough to miss that much time. This usually happens when a player is deemed to be day-to-day with whatever ails him. When a player is placed on IR, their team can go over the 23-player roster by one player, but the injured player’s cap hit still must be counted.
Looking at the Maple Leafs Specific Players
What does all that mean for the Maple Leafs? As of the writing of this, the Maple Leafs have the following players on LTIR:
| Player | Cap Hit |
| David Kampf | $2,400,000 |
| Calle Jarnkrok | $2,100,000 |
| Max Pacioretty | $873,770 |
| Dakota Mermis | $775,000 |
| Total: 4 Players | $6,148,770 |
This means the Maple Leafs can add four more players to their roster, for a total of 27 players, and they can exceed the NHL salary cap of $88 million by just over $6 million. That gives them a total allowable salary of just over $94 million.
If we look at the players who are on IR, they are.
| Player | Cap Hit |
| Auston Matthews | $13,250,000 |
| Max Domi | $3,750,000 |
| Matthew Knies | $925,000 |
| Total: 3 Players | $17,925,000 |
That means the Maple Leafs can add three more players to their roster, bringing the total to 30. However, these three injured players’ $17,925,000 cap hit still count toward the salary cap.
Now, if we look at the players who have been called up from the Marlies, we have the following:
| Player | Cap Hit |
| Alex Steeves | $775,000 |
| Fraser Minton | $816,666 |
| Nikita Grebenkin | $875,000 |
| Alex Nylander | $775,000 |
| Total: 4 players | $3,241,666 |
How the Salary Cap Numbers Work for the Maple Leafs
Toronto has 12 forwards on its active roster who are not on IR or LTIR. It also has eight defensemen and two goalies for 22 players that count toward the 23-player roster limit. Toronto has also used just over $3.2 million of the extra $6.1 million in cap space it has at its disposal.
We note that players can be retroactively put on IR or LTIR. In Matthews’ case, he could be placed on LTIR retroactively, starting on Nov. 4. That means his 24 days would be up Nov. 28, or in four days. As for missing the ten games, Matthews has missed seven to date. He would then have to miss the Utah Hockey Club game on Sunday (Nov. 24) and the two games in Florida versus the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning this coming week. The team could also exceed the league salary cap of $88 million by another $13.25 million.
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We are sure that in a best-case scenario, the Maple Leafs would like to have Matthews back for the two games in Florida. The Panthers are one point behind the Maple Leafs, and the Lightning are four points behind them with two games in hand. Both of those games are four-point games. At the same time, the Maple Leafs will not risk Matthews’ health if they don’t feel he is 100%.
The Maple Leafs Have Managed the Salary Cap Rules Wisely
Looking at the numbers in and out, the Maple Leafs have remained within the roster and salary cap rules and have more room to maneuver if necessary. It is easy to see how vital a cap guru like Brandon Pridham can be in operating an NHL franchise. Whatever the Maple Leafs are paying him is worth it. He has a complex and ever-moving job.
[Note: I want to thank long-time Maple Leafs fan Stan Smith for collaborating with me on this post. Stan’s Facebook profile can be found here.]
