Leafs GM commitments to keeping core together amid salary cap changes
The NHL and the NHLPA reached a new agreement on the collective CBA on Friday.
Part of that agreement is that the salary cap will remain fixed at 81.5 million for at least the next two seasons.
The cap will remain firm until the NHL revenue exceeds 4.8 billion.
This new development means that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tough situation.
Especially after signing Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and Nylander to large long term deals in the past few seasons.
Having those four players locked down on large contracts gives Toronto very little wiggle room going forward.
While many see the cap becoming an issue for Toronto in the future, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is not worried.
“If we were facing a situation where some of our core players were up at the end of this year and were unrestricted, I would maybe feel differently,” said Dubas
The Leafs GM feels Toronto is in a good position at least until after the 2021 season.
2021 is when Frederik Andersen and Zach Hyman will be looking for new deals.
“If we didn’t have our core guys locked up for this year and next, I would maybe feel a little bit differently, quite honestly. But I don’t. We got everybody set for ’19-20 to finish and then ’20-21,” Dubas said.
The Leafs have a solid two year window where they can compete for a Stanley Cup.
Until 2021 when Andersen, and Hyman are due to be re-signed and until 2022 when Morgan Rielly and Rasmus Sandin will be able to negotiate new deals.
Only time will tell, but Toronto is on a short timeline.
With Stanley Cup expectations from the organization. The team and its fan base Toronto is in for a wild two season stretch.
