Toronto is building a superteam for the Stanley Cup. But they need to address the salary cap and Nylander

The longest waiting team for the Stanley Cup? The Toronto Maple Leafs. The team with arguably the largest fan base, where hockey is a religion, has been waiting for the trophy for 55 seasons. But ahead of the new season, the Maple Leafs have started to build a very strong team.

After the first day of the free agent market, things were boiling over among Toronto fans. General manager Brad Treliving was harshly criticized when he signed only Ryan Reaves. A good player to have in the locker room, but with skills that probably don’t match the $1.3 million a year contract for three seasons.

Earlier, not many fans understood the “luxury” contract for third to fourth center David Kämpf at 2.4 million a year for four seasons.

In addition, Toronto let seven players walk, including Ryan O’Reilly and Michael Bunting, who signed for practically peanuts and scored 63 points in his first season. Fan anger at Treliving’s head was rising, only for Toronto’s GM to quickly extinguish the Cup.

On the second day of free agency, Toronto announced the arrival of Tyler Bertuzzi on a one-year, $5.5 million contract, which is generally considered a great deal by the Maple Leafs.

Another name that is believed to be heading to Toronto is Max Domi, who will sign a $3 million per year contract. The two big acquisitions will further strengthen an already stacked Maple Leafs team.

But it won’t be for free. Right now, Toronto is $8 million over the salary cap and it hasn’t signed goaltender Iliya Samsonov yet.

The departure of Jake Muzzin is virtually certain, the 34-year-old defenceman is burdening the salary cap with $5.6 million. One can also expect a trade or buyout of Matt Murray, the goalie’s cap hit is $4.6 million, but he can’t be counted on steadily due to frequent injuries.

These two departures should already secure a spot under the salary cap, but there is still one more challenge ahead for Treliving with William Nylander’s name on the line.

He was an excellent player in the Swedish national team, but he didn’t quite fulfill his potential in Toronto. It’s quite possible he’s not suited for a stellar offense where Matthews and Marner are the main stars, maybe Nylander needs to be a first or second star somewhere.

But the main issue is again the contract. Nylander is out of contract next year at $6.9 million and is asking for a significant raise, reportedly to $9 million.

Toronto can’t afford that at the moment, so there is speculation about Nylander’s trade for a reason. The ideal solution for the Maple Leafs would be a trade for an elite defenseman, which the Canadian team is extremely lacking.

Source: Leafs Nation, NHL