After years of contractual chaos, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a remarkably decent position in terms of the salary cap. After the departure of Mitch Marner, the remainder of the club’s core forwards, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies, and John Tavares, are under contract for at least the next three seasons.
The top six on the Leafs blueline is under control for multiple years, and goalie Joseph Woll’s three-year contract extension kicks in this season. Once the salary arbitration for Nick Robertson takes place and the young winger is signed to a one-year deal, all of GM Brad Treliving’s internal business will be taken care of.
The club could still sign an unrestricted free agent, and, like last summer, Toronto could be active in the PTO market. However, another factor that could be on Treliving’s mind is signing players entering the final year of their current deals to extensions.
Scott Laughton
The 31-year-old Oakville native was acquired by the Leafs at the trade deadline from Philadelphia for a 2027 first-round pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin, purportedly to fill Toronto’s third-line center hole. That did not turn out as planned, as Laughton was moved after a few games to the fourth line, where he stayed the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
Laughton had only four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 20 regular-season games, and two assists in 13 playoff games, but did seem to find some chemistry with Steven Lorentz and Calle Jarnkrok.
In the trade, the Flyers retained 50% of Laughton’s $3 million salary, giving the Leafs a solid two-way depth forward for a $1.5 million cap hit, but the question how anxious Treliving is to extend him past the term of his current deal.
Toronto’s likely approach is to hold off until the season begins, to see how Laughton performs after settling in after being traded for the first time. He is a consistent double-digit goal scorer who has compiled over 30 points the last four seasons. With his flexibility to play both center and left wing, the likely price point with the increasing cap will be in the $3.5 to $4 million range, depending on the length of the deal.
He’s only a $2.5M hockey player. 2 years, $5M is where he should be.