For the 2023-24 season, the NHL salary cap was fixed at $83.5 million. The question every general manager faced was: how much should I allocate to each player I have to sign a new contract with? Because that’s what it all comes down to: GMs nowadays better be good at mathematics to ensure their roster fits under the salary cap. What is the best way to build a team? How much should be invested in the offense? And in the defense? What is sustainable? What is not?
A Different Way to Build a Contender
In an interview with TVA Sports on Jan. 15, 2024, Montreal Canadiens’ general manager Kent Hughes explained how his best option to build a contending version of the Canadiens was based on scoring by committee.
The former player agent explained how in 2011, the Boston Bruins had won the Stanley Cup without having a single point-per-game player. That season, Milan Lucic and David Krejci were Boston’s scoring leaders with 62 points, while Patrice Bergeron had 57 points and Nathan Horton completed the top three with 53. None of them had missed signifying time due to injury and all played at least 75 games.
Hughes mentioned since Boston’s last Stanley Cup, six other teams had won the Cup without a point-per-game player. I’ve looked into the Cup Champions since then, and I’ve identified five that won the big prize without a point-per-game player.
The Los Angeles Kings followed suit in 2012 with Anze Kopitar being their top scorer with 76 points, Justin Williams in second with 59 and Dustin Brown completing the top three with 54 . The Kings did it again in 2014, with Kopitar still being their points leader with 70 in 82 games. Jeff Carter was second with 50 points and Williams rounded out the top three with 43 points.
The St. Louis Blues were the next team to accomplish the feat in 2019 with Ryan O’Reilly leading them in points with 77, followed by Vladimir Tarasenko with 68, and Brayden Schenn with 54.
The Tampa Bay Lighting had no point-per-game player when they won the Cup in the shortened 2021 season. Their top three scorers were Brayden Point with 48 points in 56 games, Ondrej Palat with 46 points in 55 games and Victor Hedman with 45 points in 54 games. Of course, Nikita Kucherov didn’t play in the regular season, and he might have been a point-per-game player had he played, so we’ll put an asterisk on that one (it won’t be the first one).
Finally, the defending champions, the Vegas Golden Knights did it as well, they came close to having a point-per-game player with Jack Eichel getting 66 points in 67 games, but a point is a point. Chandler Stephenson had 65 in 81 games and Jonathan Marchessault 57 in 76. That makes five Cup-winning teams or editions of teams that won the Cup without a point-per-game player, but still, I get Hughes’s point; it’s possible to win the Stanley Cup without a superstar or a few of them taking all the money and leaving very little for the other players.
About the Maple Leafs’ Salary Cap Structure
In Toronto, after struggling for years, the Maple Leafs were able to draft some truly elite talent from 2014. For three years in a row, they struck gold in the first round, picking William Nylander with the eight-overall pick in 2014, Mitch Marner with the fourth-overall pick in 2015 and, finally, with the first-overall pick in 2016, they picked the face of the franchise: Auston Matthews.
All three are point-per-game players who needed massive contracts after their entry-level deals. They are the big guns, the ones who will fill the net, but empty your nest egg as well. Last season, the salary cap was set at $83.5 million and the cap hit for those three players was $34,043,550, which equates to 41% of the salary cap. If you add John Tavares to the mix, the cap hit for the core four goes up to $45,043,550, or 54% of the salary cap. This is not sustainable.
The Way Forward for the Maple Leafs
Is it any wonder then that there are weaknesses elsewhere on the team? All the firepower in the world will not buy you a Stanley Cup Championship if your team cannot defend properly and your goaltending is shaky, be it performance-wise or injury-wise.
There is a lot of talk about splitting the “core four” in Toronto and the consensus seems to be Marner will be sacrificed. If, and when he is traded, fans must understand that the Maple Leafs will not get a player of the same value in return. This is absolutely fine, as long as the return solves some issues. If this incredible asset is not used properly, they will have traded Marner for nothing.. Toronto’s brass cannot bring over another shiny forward whose shine fades quickly come playoff time.
Putting together a championship team when a handful of players eats most of the salary pie is very hard. When the Colorado Avalanche won the Cup, Nathan MacKinnon was the only player earning more than $10 million. For the Pittsburgh Penguins, none of the big guns (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, or Marc-Andre Fleury) made more than that amount, and not every core piece was earning top money. Nobody with the Tampa Bay Lightning broke that ceiling either and one of their highest-earning player was a goaltender. You cannot win as a team if only one part of said team is up to the task.
I think Maple Leafs fans need to manage their expectations about the Marner return — it won’t be as spectacular as many hope, but it should be it the best option for the Leafs. It won’t bring more star power up front, but rather address some of the team’s most pressing needs. If a forward is included in the deal, it would have to be someone who can hold their ground in the playoffs and play hockey. The days of one-dimensional so-called “goons” are pretty much done; you need players like Max Domi who can score also get in people’s heads. The danger with these types of players is that the wires can get crossed and they lash out; this is alright at times but they cannot lash out like Nazem Kadri did a few times in Toronto — he always did so at the absolute worst time.
When the Western Conference Final begins Wednesday night, the Edmonton Oilers will try to continue their quest for the Cup, regardless of the fact their defense is not that of a contender and their goaltending is subpar at best. Just like Toronto, Edmonton has put all their eggs in the attacking basket and they were almost eliminated in the second round because of their goaltending issues.
The task Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving has at hand is colossal in both size and importance. Like everyone else, the Leafs’ top players are aging and there is a sense of urgency here. The right complementary pieces must be found before Toronto’s window of opportunities closes.
