Recently, I posted about the Maple Leafs' options. Today, I want to go over the options in a bit more detail. Most of us worry about the cap hits of Matthews, Marner, and Captain Tavares. John Tavares' cap hit is $11,000,000 until 2024/25. The best player of the three might be Auston Matthews, with a cap hit of $11,634,000 until 2023/24.
Last but not least is Mitch Marner, with a cap hit of $10,893,000 until 2024/25. That means Toronto Maple Leafs are paying roughly $33 million for a very long time. Three outstanding players—but still, $33 million between three players is a lot of dough.
Being the economic whiz, I am (yeah, right), I figure the team has to make some room so we can still have enough players for a team. If you look at the forwards, I have already mentioned Nylander in a past blog, so let's skip him. I want to talk about two options for the Maple Leafs to consider.
Alexander Kerfoot
A feasible third-line centre to get the job done. Kerfoot is a hard-working centre, reliable defensively. He is a player with some offensive punch, scoring 9 goals and 19 assists. What makes him expendable is his $3.5 million cap hit. Unfortunately, that will be a problem for most NHL clubs. Having a $3.5 million centre is a luxury most NHL franchises cannot afford.
Kasperi Kapanen
I'm not too fond of this option; losing Kasperii would not make me happy. Kasperi is a fast skater that the Leafs use on the penalty unit. I love his speed in making things happen; he intimidates defensemen into making mistakes, creating scoring chances for the Maple Leafs. I say he is an option because he will be more appealing to NHL teams; he brings more talent to the table.
The Leafs still have plenty of time to shore up the money. In the future, this may very well have to be addressed. The defence is in dire need of another body to help with the defensive zone coverage.
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