Cap Conundrum Causes Concerns; Leafs vs. Kraken

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue with their four-game road swing on Wednesday against the Seattle Kraken after going 1-1 in the Alberta leg of the western excursion, with arguably their best game of the season in a 7-2 thrashing of the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, and a disappointing 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames on Monday. The biggest areas of concern coming out of the defeat were another subpar performance from goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and the injury to winger Kirill Marchenko.

This story is powered by Betalytics — the intelligent platform for sports betting — and by Rude Hockey apparel.

Marchenko left the game in the second period after getting knocked down by Calgary winger Yegor Sharangovich and went to the dressing room after trying to return to the action. Although there has been no official word from the club regarding the extent of the injury, the winger was spotted at the Calgary airport on Tuesday heading back to Toronto for further medical examination. The club is already without centers John Tavares, forwards Max Domi, Miles Wood and Dakota Joshua, and defenseman Chris Tanev.

According to Leafs GM John Chayka, Tanev is progressing and should resume practicing with the club soon. Tavares has resumed skating in Toronto after being injured against Buffalo on October 15. Joshua has played four games on a conditioning stint with the AHL Marlies (Joshua was recalled with Marchenko out for at least the rest of the road trip), while Domi is skating on his own, but remains out indefinitely.

The Leafs may have to do some shifting, like moving Wood from IR to LTIR, to be cap-compliant, but there are more far-reaching concerns regarding their cap situation. According to former Florida Asst. GM Steve Werier on the Sheet with Jeff Marek last week, Toronto’s trade with Columbus, taking on the Wood contract, and the extension to Marchenko put the club right up to the limit of what they can take on in future salary.

This would limit Chayka’s ability to trade for a defenseman with term remaining on his deal, unless he can deal a player on the Leafs roster with term before or in the trade. If Chayka cannot do that, it would limit them to dealing for players on expiring contracts (either veterans becoming UFA’s or younger players becoming RFA’s). Either way, this has painted the Leafs into a bit of a corner.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (7-5-2 – 16 POINTS) vs. SEATTLE KRAKEN (7-4-1 – 15 POINTS)

10/28/26: 10:00 PM at CLIMATE PLEDGE ARENA (SEATTLE, WA) TV: SPORTSNET ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050


TORONTO’S HISTORY vs. SEATTLE

All-Time Record:7-2-1 (10 Games)
All-Time Road Record:4-1-0 (5 Games)
2025-26:0-1-1
Last Five:3-1-1
Last 10:7-2-1
First Matchup Between Clubs:February 14, 2022 (Toronto 6 vs. Seattle 2
All-Time Record:7-2-1 (10 Games)
All-Time Home Record:3-1-1 (5 Games)
All-Time Road Record:4-1-0 (5 Games)
Last Road Win vs. Opponent:February 6, 2025 (Toronto 3 at Seattle 1)

MAPLE LEAFS / KRAKEN – 2026-27 TEAM STATS

TORONTOSEATTLE
Team Rank: T-2nd – Atlantic 3rd – Pacific
Goals For Per Game:3.71 (6th)3.58 (7th)
Goals Against Per Game:3.21 (18th)3.5 (25th-T)
Power Play %:28.9 (5th)23.1 (11th)
Penalty Kill %:93.6 (1st)70.6 (25th-T)
Shots For Per Game:28.6 (12th)26.2 (23rd)
Shots Against Per Game:30.3 (27th)31.8 (31st)
Faceoff %:52.2 (9th)51.6 (10th)
(NHL rank in parentheses – as of 10/28/2026 at 8:30 a.m. EST)

Home › Forums › Cap Conundrum Causes Concerns; Leafs vs. Kraken

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
Scroll to Top