Quoting: worldwidesensei
You're not? I guess it depends on your definition of 'cap hell', but from these eyes, the Leafs are certainly in cap hell.
Why are you looking to unload Marleau and Zaitsev? Are they terrible players? No. You just can't afford them anymore.
Can you sign Marner, Kapanen, Johnsson? Are you able to add to the roster? Or just bring up players to fill holes?
You certainly can't add anything of value from outside the organization.
To me, 'cap hell' means you can't add a player (i.e. Panarin, Karlsson) that adds to your team.
The Sabres are certainly not in cap hell. They still have $20 million+ to add to their team.
They could easily afford a Karlsson. Why? Because the Sabres are not in cap hell.
The Leafs are.
IN RETROSPECT WE CAN SEE THAT:
BUFFALO:
- Did not add Karlsson or Panarin with their free cap-space.
- Used that $11,500,000 to acquire Miller + Simmonds + Frolik.
- Gave away 2nd + 4th + 4th + 5th + 5th rounders to acquire them.
- Kept Botterill on as GM (to sign every crucial impending extension).
TORONTO:
- Did sign Marner + Kapanen + Johnsson without any issues.
- Did unload Zaitsev + Marleau as stated (both terrible in 2019-20).
- Added Mikeyev for free (the closest Euro FA to Panarin in decades).
- Added two more of the KHL's best for free (Lehtonen + Barabanov).
TORONTO CURRENTLY:
Has their entire core signed for at least 3 more years:
- 5 Years = Matthews
- 6 Years = Tavares
- 6 Years = Marner
- 5 Years = Nylander
- 5 Years = Muzzin
- 3 Years = Rielly
- 3 Years = Mikheyev
- 3 Years = Kapanen
- 4 Years = Johnsson
- 3 Years = Campbell
- 4 Years = Kerfoot
- 3 Years = Engvall
- 4 Years = Holl
Will have solid roster players on ELC's for at least 3 more years:
- 3 Years = Sandin
- 3 Years = Liljegren
- 4 Years = Robertson
The only question mark is Freddy Andersen's extension after next season.
Campbell looks like an upgrade at a huge discount though ($1,600,000 x 3).
Campbell had a 0.928 SV% over 36 games as LA's starter after Quick got hurt.
BUFFALO CURRENTLY:
Is low on cap-space and must extend most of their core within 14 months.
With Skinner's deal as a comparable, Botterill could easily be forced into paying:
$11,000,000 x 7 = Dahlen
- $9,000,000 x 7 = Reinhart
- $8,000,000 x 7 = Montour
- $7,000,000 x 7 = Olofsson
- $6,000,000 x 6 = Ullmark
- $6,000,000 x 6 = Johanson
- $5,000,000 x 5 = Jokiharju
- $5,000,000 x 5 = McCabe
- $5,000,000 x 5 = Kahun
- $3,000,000 x 3 = Mittelstat
- $3,000,000 x 3 = Larsson
- $3,000,000 x 3 = Vesey
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$71,000,000 = Total Cost
Now add that to Botterill's existing long-term contracts:
$10,000,000 x 7 = Eichel
- $9,000,000 x 8 = Skinner
- $6,000,000 x 4 = Okposo
- $5,000,000 x 3 = Risto
- $4,000,000 x 3 = Miller
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$34,000,000 = Total Cost
And you get $105,000,000 spent on 16 players (with the cap stuck around $80,000,000 for 2-3 more years).
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The end result here is quite obvious - Toronto is currently in a much better cap-situation than Buffalo.
And that's without even considering that Toronto currently has a much better team than Buffalo.