2007-08 Salary Cap Outlook And The 2007 Off-Season
Posted 11:47 PM ET | Comments 0
First off, let me start by looking at the numbers in terms of a salary cap hit for the 2007-08 season:
(all numbers rounded to two decimal places)
SUNDIN- $5.50M
TUCKER- $3.00M
ANTROPOV- $1.95M
STEEN- $0.95M
KILGER- $0.87M
STAJAN- $0.95M
WELLWOOD- $0.95M
PONIKAROVSKY- $1.58M
POHL- $0.48M
DEVERAUX- $0.55M
ONDRUS- $0.50M
WESTRUM- $0.48M
NEWBURY- $0.48M*
BELL- TBA
-----------------------
OFFENSE TOTALS: $18.24M
McCABE- $7.15M
KUBINA- $5.00M
KABERLE- $4.25M
GILL- $2.08M
COLAIACOVO- $1.25
BELAK- $0.63M
WHITE- $0.85M
WOZNIEWSKI- $0.500M
KRONWALL- $0.48M
------------------------
DEFENSE TOTALS- $22.19M
RAYCROFT- $2.00M
POGGE- $0.75M
TOSKALA- TBA
------------------------
GOALTENDING TOTALS- $2.75M
OFFENSE TOTALS- $18.24M
DEFENSE TOTALS- $22.19M
GOALTENDING TOTALS- $2.75M
TOTAL CAP, PRE-JULY 1: $43.18M
And now, a list of free agents from the Leafs 2006-07 roster. I will separate the FAs into three categories: definitely resigning, possibly resigning, and good as gone. If possibly resigned, I will list the estimated amount they should resign for.
DEFINITELY RESIGNING:
Jeremy Williams ($0.50M)
POSSIBLY RESIGNING:
Bates Battaglia ($0.55M)
Mike Peca ($1.75M)
GOOD AS GONE:
Travis Green
Yanic Perreault
J.S. Aubin
PRE-TOTALS: $41.93M
ADDED TOTAL: $42.43M
ADDED TOTAL MAX: $45.68M
Assuming that the salary cap is increasing to $50M, at a minimum, the Leafs would have only $4.32M left for free agency. At an absolute maximum, they would have $7.57M
Of the definite $42.43M cap hit that the Leafs will take next season, it should be noted that $20.94M of that- or almost half of the Leafs cap hit- is tied up in defensemen. It should also be noted that this number is WITHOUT the signing of Carlo Colaiacovo. The Leafs have eight D-men tied up to contracts, and of the $20.94M cap hit the blueline takes, $12.15M- or 58%- of the cap hit is from two players- Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina. In other words, almost a third of the Leafs cap hit is occupied by these two players.
Ideally, shopping McCabe or Kubina would be the best priority. For McCabe, the best option would be a draft day deal would be the New York Islanders. McCabe was originally drafted by the Isles, his wife is from the area, and he lives there during the off-season. He has also shown interest in returning to the area. If the free agency rumours are correct, then, for the right price, the Isles may indeed be interested in Bryan McCabe. The question, however, is how to get rid of him? Surely, ridding the team of such a large contract will be a hard task for JFJ. The best option would be a draft day trade, in which there would likely be some swapping of draft picks as well.
I won't hold my breath to how good a chance the Leafs have at palming McCabe off to the Isles. However, if it CAN be done- and believe me, I'm aware the chances are slim- that's $7.15M taken off the cap.
Current outlook, however, is a cap space of $7.57M, without McCabe or Kubina being shopped. Time will tell what the Leafs can obtain with that amount of money. If, by some luck of god, the Leafs were to obtain Ryan Smyth, he would sign for a MINIMUM of $5.5M, leaving just $2M remaining. Perhaps, in my opinion, it would be better to sign Scott Hartnell and/or Dainius Zubrus for $2M apiece. It would be a modest salary increase for both, yet the cap hit to sign both players would be $1.5M less than what the Leafs would pay for Smyth.
Somehow, however, I don't see the Leafs doing that.
(all numbers rounded to two decimal places)
SUNDIN- $5.50M
TUCKER- $3.00M
ANTROPOV- $1.95M
STEEN- $0.95M
KILGER- $0.87M
STAJAN- $0.95M
WELLWOOD- $0.95M
PONIKAROVSKY- $1.58M
POHL- $0.48M
DEVERAUX- $0.55M
ONDRUS- $0.50M
WESTRUM- $0.48M
NEWBURY- $0.48M*
BELL- TBA
-----------------------
OFFENSE TOTALS: $18.24M
McCABE- $7.15M
KUBINA- $5.00M
KABERLE- $4.25M
GILL- $2.08M
COLAIACOVO- $1.25
BELAK- $0.63M
WHITE- $0.85M
WOZNIEWSKI- $0.500M
KRONWALL- $0.48M
------------------------
DEFENSE TOTALS- $22.19M
RAYCROFT- $2.00M
POGGE- $0.75M
TOSKALA- TBA
------------------------
GOALTENDING TOTALS- $2.75M
OFFENSE TOTALS- $18.24M
DEFENSE TOTALS- $22.19M
GOALTENDING TOTALS- $2.75M
TOTAL CAP, PRE-JULY 1: $43.18M
And now, a list of free agents from the Leafs 2006-07 roster. I will separate the FAs into three categories: definitely resigning, possibly resigning, and good as gone. If possibly resigned, I will list the estimated amount they should resign for.
DEFINITELY RESIGNING:
Jeremy Williams ($0.50M)
POSSIBLY RESIGNING:
Bates Battaglia ($0.55M)
Mike Peca ($1.75M)
GOOD AS GONE:
Travis Green
Yanic Perreault
J.S. Aubin
PRE-TOTALS: $41.93M
ADDED TOTAL: $42.43M
ADDED TOTAL MAX: $45.68M
Assuming that the salary cap is increasing to $50M, at a minimum, the Leafs would have only $4.32M left for free agency. At an absolute maximum, they would have $7.57M
Of the definite $42.43M cap hit that the Leafs will take next season, it should be noted that $20.94M of that- or almost half of the Leafs cap hit- is tied up in defensemen. It should also be noted that this number is WITHOUT the signing of Carlo Colaiacovo. The Leafs have eight D-men tied up to contracts, and of the $20.94M cap hit the blueline takes, $12.15M- or 58%- of the cap hit is from two players- Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina. In other words, almost a third of the Leafs cap hit is occupied by these two players.
Ideally, shopping McCabe or Kubina would be the best priority. For McCabe, the best option would be a draft day deal would be the New York Islanders. McCabe was originally drafted by the Isles, his wife is from the area, and he lives there during the off-season. He has also shown interest in returning to the area. If the free agency rumours are correct, then, for the right price, the Isles may indeed be interested in Bryan McCabe. The question, however, is how to get rid of him? Surely, ridding the team of such a large contract will be a hard task for JFJ. The best option would be a draft day trade, in which there would likely be some swapping of draft picks as well.
I won't hold my breath to how good a chance the Leafs have at palming McCabe off to the Isles. However, if it CAN be done- and believe me, I'm aware the chances are slim- that's $7.15M taken off the cap.
Current outlook, however, is a cap space of $7.57M, without McCabe or Kubina being shopped. Time will tell what the Leafs can obtain with that amount of money. If, by some luck of god, the Leafs were to obtain Ryan Smyth, he would sign for a MINIMUM of $5.5M, leaving just $2M remaining. Perhaps, in my opinion, it would be better to sign Scott Hartnell and/or Dainius Zubrus for $2M apiece. It would be a modest salary increase for both, yet the cap hit to sign both players would be $1.5M less than what the Leafs would pay for Smyth.
Somehow, however, I don't see the Leafs doing that.