It’s that time of year – the training camp rosters are out and talk of puck drops is ramping up. With it comes new faces at camps, both young and those of the grizzled veterans looking to earn spots on their respective rosters.
Last season, for the Toronto Maple Leafs, all the talk was around the team signing veteran Max Pacioretty to a professional try-out (PTO). It was one that came to fruition and, eventually, led to Pacioretty earning a spot on the team as a rotational option throughout the season and playoffs.
He ended up playing in 37 games in the regular season with five goals and 13 points to show for it, adding another eight points in 11 playoff games for the Maple Leafs. Ultimately, it was a relatively successful PTO-to-roster-player signing for the Maple Leafs.
This season, however, the Maple Leafs will open up camp with some invites, but no headlining PTO candidates. While there’s no clear reason for the decision, part of it could lie in the overall salary cap picture for the team this season.
Maple Leafs Finally Have Cap Space
It’s been a while, to say the least, but the Maple Leafs finally have some cap space to work with to open the 2025-26 season assuming no more moves are made. According to PuckPedia, the Maple Leafs have just shy of $2 million if they open up the season with the current roster.
Related: Maple Leafs’ 2025-26 Training Camp Roster Announced
Along with that, the team has 23 of 23 active roster spots filled, with four standard contract spots remaining. To add to that, they have three spots remaining for salary retentions, something that they likely won’t use this season.
That said, what exactly does the space mean for the Maple Leafs?
Maple Leafs Could Go Big at the Trade Deadline
On a recent episode of the Sticks in the 6ix podcast, David Alter broke down one possibility as to why the Maple Leafs haven’t filled the $2-million spot in their cap. On top of it being the first time in a long time that they aren’t right up against the ceiling, Alter suggested that if they can make it through the majority of the season with the roster they currently have, the Maple Leafs could potentially look for a rental or a player at the trade deadline that carries a cap of more around the $8 million to $9 million range.
“Even if you factored in Easton Cowan, you’ve got about $2 million under the salary cap with a roster of 23, which is the maximum you can carry,” he explained on the show. “The Leafs have not had that position for a long period of time. So I think the look right now is why commit to whatever might be out on the market and put ourselves right against the cap?”
Remember, rumors swirled and continue to around the Maple Leafs and Jack Roslovic. But Alter broke it down further as it pertains to the NHL’s trade deadline.
“[The Maple Leafs] have enough depth and can kind of see where things go here and accrue cap space on a daily basis that, if closer to the deadline it makes sense to add a top-six that’s on an expiring, we can do it,” said Alter. “The way the PuckPedia math works, right now, is that if the Leafs stay where they are at on the cap right now, and they wait until the deadline for the whole season with 23 players, they could acquire like a $9-million cap-hit guy.”
Maple Leafs Need to Stay the Course
Given the math and what the potential is for this team at the deadline, it’s hard not to imagine that the ideal situation is running the season – up to the deadline – with the same 23-man roster that they open the season with.
That means no moves, no PTOs and pushing through injuries with what you have. The big question, however, is where the team will be at if they run this course given the strenuous schedule. None of this will matter if the Maple Leafs aren’t in a playoff spot come the deadline.
So, with that in mind, the Roslovic rumors would likely be dead. The top-line debate seems as though it will fall on the shoulders of either Matias Maccelli or Max Domi. Will that be enough? Given the loss of Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs will be looking to fill that void with what they have and if this is the route they choose to go, let the names start flying as to who they would be interested in if and when they pull the trigger at the trade deadline.
