Page 44 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 133

44 Issue #133 February 2024 www.sportsenergynews.com

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Energy N e w s presents Sports Panel
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Stories And More About The People In Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry
The Leafs have signed William Nylander to an eight-year deal worth ninety-two million dollars.
There’s no doubt he’s one of the NHL’s best players, but with Tavares, Marner, Rielly, and Matthews
also signed to big dollar deals, how will the Leafs be able to compete going forward?
Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach -January 8, 2024, was a happy day for the twenty-seven-year-old Calgary born (dual Canada Sweden citizen,)
William Nylander.
Willy’s deal, which begins next season, includes a full no-movement clause, $69 million in bonuses and $27 million of the contract paid in the first
two years; also attached is a nifty AAV (average annual value) of $11.5 million. Hockey News reports this is the largest contract in Maple Leaf history
by total value.
Are the Leafs overpaying their core? Toronto GM Brad Treliving believes this core will bring the Stanley Cup back to Toronto… With Nylander
accounting for $11.5 million on the books for next season, the Leafs will have approximately $46.6 million out of a projected $87.675 million cap
max. or 53.2% of their budget, committed to their top-four forwards leaving about $41 million for the remaining players, so how is Toronto going to continue to
compete moving forward?
What the Leafs learned during the flat cap era, is that there is no limit as to how the salary cap can be manipulated to work to the teams’ advantage. The pandemic was
a great exercise for the Leafs in creating cap space when needed. Shuffling or listing players as LTIR (Long-term Injury Reserve,) is one method of opening cap space,
for example placing Murray, Muzzin, and Klingberg on LTIR got Toronto out of a cap jam and provided adequate roster flexibility, but it’s also a strategic balancing
act. Currently there are fourteen players committed to their roster for next season at a combined cap hit of almost $66.5 million, leaving approximately $17million to
add between six to nine players. Within those six to nine is the search for another goaltender to play with Joseph Woll and recruiting additional talent in the defensive
zone. I believe Toronto GM is very confident in signing Nylander, a talented player who calls Toronto home and a player the team has tremendous confidence in. As
the season progresses the decisions made so far will prove to be very beneficial in ensuring the Leafs are very competitive moving forward.
Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club - The Nylander signing puts the Toronto Maple Leafs into an even tighter salary cap situation for the 2024-25
season. With the “core four” of Matthew’s, Mariner, Tavares, and Nylander, plus Morgan Rielly’s 7.5M salary, the Leafs have five players taking up
61.5M of the projected 88M salary cap. With fourteen players under contract for next season the team only has a little more than 17 million to sign
the eight or nine additional players required to fill out the roster. Nick Robertson, Timothy Liljegron, Simon Benoit, and Noah Gregor are all RFA’s
and under team control, so getting reasonable contracts in place with them shouldn’t be an issue. If the team decides to trade either Mariner or
Tavares, that deal would bring back quality roster players, picks, and much needed cap space. If there are no trade plans, the Leafs will need a couple
of prospects to crack the lineup, adding two entry level contracts to the team and leaving enough money to sign one or two decent UFA’s. If neither of
these scenario’s happen, GM Brad Treliving will be out bargain shopping.
Peter Collins - Sports Enthusiast - If you look at Nylander’s numbers in comparison with other NHL stars, he deserves the contract that he just
signed. It’s in line with his own teammates and other players with similar skills and results. The problem is that the Leafs are top heavy in expensive
contracts, and it will only get worse next season when Nylander’s salary goes from about 7 million to 11.5 million. When October 2024 rolls around
next fall, the Leafs will have four players in the top ten of NHL salaries. If you add up Nylander, Tavares, Matthews, Marner, and Rielly’s salaries, they
will represent about fifty percent of Toronto’s cap space. With a cap space of 97 million, the average player should be receiving around 4 million dollars
per year. Digging deeper into the numbers shows that after the big five get paid, the average player on the Leafs will receive about 2.6 million dollars.
Can you say goaltending and defence issues? That’s why the Leafs are trying to outscore their opponents, because they don’t have the finances to shore
up their backend or their goaltending. It’s a good thing that Kleinberg and his 4 million a year are off the books, or the Leafs would be in real trouble.
I’m sure the Toronto brass is hoping for a return to health of excellent young goaltender, Joseph Woll, and his seven hundred-thousand-dollar salary.
He could help them escape the abyss of their cap mess. In simple terms the Toronto team is top heavy and it’s either boom or bust for this team as a
Stanley Cup contender. Let’s hope it’s a boom or more changes are on the way!

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