Toronto Maple Leafs projected to have $22 million in cap space next summer
The Toronto Maple Leafs will have quite the blank slate to work with next summer — if they want it.
After an offseason that saw a seismic organizational change with the departure of Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights, Toronto has been left to figure out how exactly to allocate their money moving forward.
And while they haven’t quite broken the bank on an attempted Marner replacement just yet, it looks like 2026 might be the summer that the Leafs can really spend big.
In 2025-26 the cap will be set for $95.5 million, by 2026-27 it is projected to be at $104 million, and finally in 2027-28 it’ll be up to $113.5 million.
As things currently stand, the Leafs will have around $22.3 million heading into free agency next summer.
It’s a big departure from the COVID-19 related salary cap issues that affected the Leafs, where the league chose to flatten out the spending ceiling on a year-to-year basis due to a decline in revenues during the pandemic.
While all 32 teams had to deal with a smaller cap than projected, Toronto was hit especially hard due to its heavy spending on major deals signed in the years right before the pandemic rules took effect.
What does the Leafs’ cap picture look like?
The Leafs currently have seven forwards locked in through at least 2028. Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares headline that list, with Toronto’s future up front virtually set in stone for the time being.
The biggest deal coming off the books after this season is RFA Matias Macelli, whom the Leafs acquired from Utah in a trade. He has one year left on his deal at $3.425 million. Calle Jarnkrok, Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, and Nick Robertson are all also set to see their deals expire, with all but Robertson eligible for unrestricted free agency.
On the defensive side of things, six Leafs defenders are extended for at least two more years. The only expiring deal is another RFA in Henry Thrun, whom Toronto got in a trade for Ryan Reaves. Thrun is making an even $1 million this year.
In net, Joseph Woll is signed through 2028 at $3.66 million per year, while Anthony Stolarz has one year left at $2.5 million.
What will the Leafs do with the money?
Connor McDavid is currently set to be a free agent in 2026. If he becomes available (which, of course, would mean he doesn’t end up signing a long-term deal with the Edmonton Oilers in the next 10 months), you can bet that Toronto will be all over a full-on push to try to bring him to the Leafs.
Failing that, Artemi Panarin, Cale Makar, Kirill Kaprizov, and Jack Eichel are also members of the upcoming UFA class.
But if Toronto can’t sign a big fish a year from now, the cap space will, at the least, likely give them a bit of flexibility to flesh out a deeper roster, and perhaps ink some new long-term deals from their current forward group.
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