Gary Bettman Delivers Devastating News to the Leafs' Future Plans After Elliotte Friedman's Leaked Report
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman shot down any potential rumors about a salary cap increase and condemned the media for reporting so.
Last week Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL salary cap was being discussed in future CBA talks and the potential for it to rise to nearly $100M next season.
So now we have two paths to follow: One, either they keep the cap at $92.5 and then there's a huge jump the year after that in 2026-27, or there's the possibility [and players have been told] that the cap goes higher next year in the $95-97M area."
It was a stunning revelation about the league's success over the last few years, and the excitement about the potential of bigger contracts and a wild free agency enticed both players and fans alike.
But Gary Bettman wanted to spoil everything, as he usually does.
While speaking to Ottawa media ahead of the Senators game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, Bettman shot down any talks of an increased cap:
The numbers that were being thrown around were not accurate and any change would require an agreement between us, the league and the Players Association in terms of how it's computed.
We haven't had those discussions. So somebody, I think, floated something on a slow news day."
Estimates put the next salary cap at $92.5M which would be a substantial increase from the $88M this season, although even that figure is apparently undecided:
The Commissioner was in town to speak to owner Andlauer, the Ottawa Board of Trade, and Mayor Mark Sutcliffe to discuss the new arena being built for the Senators.
Bettman was positive about the visit, in a small bright spot in this cloud of uncertainty:
But what does this mean for Toronto?
The Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Out Again
Oh boy, if Toronto already didn't feel like the NHL had a grudge against them, this feels like the cherry on top.
Bettman's cold demeanor in shutting down a cap increase means it makes life much more difficult for the Maple Leafs.
With Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies needing contracts, that extra funding could have easily helped Toronto retain at least two of those three.
Plus it could help Toronto at least field a competitive offer for Marner, knowing teams are going to throw tons of money at him.
Brad Treliving now has to make some decisions.
He could make a trade with some of his unsavory contracts to make more room and re-sign Marner now and wait for Knies, or he can extend Knies now and hope a deep playoff run convinces Marner to stay.
With Gary Bettman raining on the Maple Leafs parade time and time again, it does feel like the league has a vendetta against their most popular and profitable franchise. But as always, Toronto will persevere.
The best way to prove to Bettman he needs to stop meddling is to have him hand over the Stanley Cup.
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