Maple Leafs News & Analysis

The Maple Leafs salary cap sits about $2.75M over the $104M ceiling. Here are the three levers Toronto can pull before the Sept. 28 compliance deadline.

An Erik Karlsson Maple Leafs trade got floated on a podcast and spread fast. Toronto is $2.75M over the cap and needs defending, not more offence.

Maple Leafs playoff odds for 2026-27 sit near a coin flip despite Chayka's roster overhaul. What the models see, where they're wrong, and the real bar.

The Alexander Nikishin trade market has three real bidders and the Maple Leafs aren't one. Why Toronto can't win this race, and shouldn't try.

The Matthew Knies trade rumours got their firmest denial yet from Leafs AGM Ryan Hardy — and the Morgan Rielly answer was the more revealing one.

Gavin McKenna is not on Canada's World Junior Summer Showcase roster in Windsor. Why the omission is a signal about his Maple Leafs season, not a snub.

Celebrini's NHL-record $18.8M AAV moved the ceiling for elite forwards. Here's what it means for Auston Matthews' next contract with the Maple Leafs.

Mike Babcock's Oilers hire got a public endorsement from Draisaitl and McDavid in Toronto. Two contenders, two coaching resets, two different diagnoses.

Gavin McKenna's entry-level contract pays a $1.075M cap hit with $3.5M in annual bonuses. Here is why it powers Chayka's retool — and how it can backfire.

The remaining NHL free agents are down to Tarasenko, Laine and Bunting after Patrick Kane went back to Chicago. Toronto's cap sheet says wait until September.

The 2027 NHL free agent class added Jason Robertson to a group with Crosby, Makar, Kucherov and Quinn Hughes. For Toronto, it is a bill arriving early.

The Maple Leafs prospects who won a Calder Cup have nowhere to go. Chayka's five bottom-six additions fixed a real problem and created a quieter one.

New CBA contract rules land September 16: shorter terms, no deferred salary, a 20 per cent variance cap, a 71 per cent floor. What it means for Toronto.

NHL salary arbitration hearings end August 1. That deadline is what has frozen the trade market all month — and why the Leafs' cap wait finally gets real.

The Connor Hellebuyck trade market is down to Carolina and Buffalo. Either outcome hurts the Maple Leafs — one closes the Nikishin door, one arms the Atlantic.

A Kirill Marchenko trade is the loudest rumour of the NHL summer, and Columbus beat writers have already knocked it down. Why the Leafs should still call.

The Brian Burke Hall of Fame induction lands Nov. 9 in Toronto. An honest accounting of a Maple Leafs tenure that failed and still shapes the roster.

The Maple Leafs fourth line is deeper than it has been in years. With Lorentz and Joshua waiver-bound, someone good sits. Keep the cheaper one.