Salary Cap Forces Leafs to Make Dangerous Goalie Decision

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Aaron Itovitch
April 8, 2023 (3:52 PM)

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The Maple Leafs' cap situation is less than ideal. Tonight, it will have its biggest effect of the season.

Leafs to Only Dress One Goalie

The salary cap is incredibly confusing, but ultimately the main goal is to have the total of daily cap hits combine over the season to be under the plateau of $82.5-million.

These daily cap hits can be manipulated with LTIR and waivers, but as the end of the season nears, teams are in a frenzy to stay under the cap without affecting their team negatively.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, this means making a tough decision with their goaltenders, as per Sheldon Keefe:

"The salary cap and roster limitations both provide challenges in terms of what you're capable of doing. It's an 82-game schedule, and you gotta get through it."

Samsonov Gets the Job

Tonight, Ilya Samsonov will be the only goalie dressed for the Maple Leafs. The team will roll with no backup, and if Samsonov leaves the game with injury, they will be left in the hands of an EBUG.

This EBUG will be one of Andrew D'Agostini, an ECHL goalie that has kicked tired in the AHL for the Marlies, or Brendon Bonello of York University.

It's safe to say neither of these guys are competent NHL options, so hopefully Samsonov stays healthy!

Once the playoffs hit, the cap structure is not as prevalent, and the Leafs can dress their entire roster no problem. Hopefully the duo of Samsonov and Murray can go far when the Leafs can afford to keep them together!

As Read On Maple Leafs Daily -
Leafs only dressing one goaltender tonight due to cap-related reasons