The Toronto Maple Leafs are holding on for dear life in the Eastern Conference playoff race. In any other season, the Leafs would likely be way out of a playoff spot. But the unusually even race in the Atlantic Division, and the Eastern Conference in general, has the Leafs within striking distance of a postseason berth.
However, rumors of Chris Tanev being out for the remainder of the season could lead the Maple Leafs’ plans to take a drastic turn.
The Maple Leafs are currently down two regular blueliners in Tanev and Brandon Carlo. Plus, Jake McCabe left Saturday night’s game against the New York Islanders in the third period. While there is no word on McCabe’s possible injury, the situation does not look good.
That means the Maple Leafs will have to figure out what comes next. As the Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta noted in a January 4 piece, the Maple Leafs could have some cap space to play with.
The comment stems from potentially moving Tanev and Dakota Joshua to LTIR. Now, it’s worth noting that this season’s new rules state that the maximum a team can allocate to LTIR is $3.8 million, based on last year’s average.
As such, the Maple Leafs could only utilize $3.8 or Tanev’s $4.5 million cap hit. Meanwhile, Joshua’s full $3.25 million cap hit could go towards landing another player. If both players land on LTIR, that’s a little over $7 million to play with.
While that’s enough to land one good player, it may not be enough to address the entire situation.
Maple Leafs Could Move Tanev, Joshua to SELTIR
So, here’s the catch. The Maple Leafs cannot exploit the LTIR loophole that got so much attention in previous years. Under the old rules, teams could use LTIR to add players during the regular season. Since there was no playoff cap, teams could easily exceed the regular-season cap by activating players once the postseason began.
The most recent example of that was the Florida Panthers with Matthew Tkachuk and the Edmonton Oilers with Evander Kane last season.
This year, that’s a no-go. If the Maple Leafs place Tanev and/or Joshua on LTIR, the club cannot activate them in the postseason and go over the cap. The same limitations the Leafs face during the regular season would be the same ones in the playoffs.
If the Leafs chose to place both players on season-ending LTIR, as the name suggests, both players would be out until next season. That situation means Toronto could not activate Tanev or Joshua even if the team were cap compliant.
Injuries Could Force Leafs’ Hand
The current injury situation could force the Maple Leafs’ hand. If GM Brad Treliving is serious about remaining competitive this season, the club will need to address the injuries. That situation could mean bringing in another defenseman and potentially a depth forward.
While the forward situation may not be as dire, one would have to think adding a blueliner would be. The chatter surrounding the Maple Leafs has suggested that Rasmus Andersson is high on Toronto’s radar. However, the Leafs likely don’t have the pieces the Calgary Flames want for Andersson.
Perhaps the Maple Leafs could explore other, less-impressive options out there. But the fact is that the club is in dire straits at the moment. Unless internal options really step up, the club will have to pull a huge rabbit out of its hat to address the insane amount of injuries.
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