After signing both Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, the Maple Leafs now find themselves nearly $9MM over the salary cap, per CapFriendly. Even with the LTIR allowance for Jake Muzzin, they’re still more than $3MM over that ceiling. Accordingly, there is an expectation that they will need to move out goaltender Matt Murray. To that end, in his latest post for NorthStar Bets, Chris Johnston notes that Toronto’s preference at this point is to try to trade Murray over using the second buyout window, a move that would open up $4MM in cap space in 2023-24 but add $2MM in dead cap charges in 2024-25. Considering they have pricey extensions on the horizon for Auston Matthews and William Nylander, having dead cap charges on the books won’t help.
The Maple Leafs will get a second buyout window if an arbitration-eligible player files for arbitration. That would be RFA Ilya Samsonov so expect him to be one of many players filing for arbitration by Thursday’s deadline. But that’s Plan B for them. For now, GM Brad Treliving will be shopping around to see who’s willing to take on that contract and just how much it will cost in an incentive to do so.