Toronto Maple Leafs 2013-14 Roster
FORWARDS
Joffrey Lupul ($5.250m) / Tyler Bozak ($4.200m) / Phil Kessel ($5.400m)
James Van Riemsdyk ($4.250m) / Nazem Kadri ($2.900m) / Mason Raymond ($1.000m)
Nikolai Kulemin ($2.800m) / Dave Bolland ($3.375m) / Jay McClement ($1.500m)
Frazer McLaren ($0.700m) / Joe Colborne ($0.600m) / Colton Orr ($0.925m)
David Clarkson ($5.250m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Dion Phaneuf ($6.500m) / Carl Gunnarsson ($3.150m)
Jake Gardiner ($1.117m) / Paul Ranger ($1.000m)
Cody Franson ($2.000m) / Mark Fraser ($1.275m)
John-Michael Liles ($3.875m) /
GOALTENDERS
Jonathan Bernier ($2.900m)
James Reimer ($1.800m)
OTHER
Buyout: Darcy Tucker ($1.000m)
Buyout: Colby Armstrong ($1.000m)
RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (0.778% of upper limit)
Matt Frattin ($0.437m—0.5%) Ben Scrivens ($0.062m—0.1%)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled with the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $64,266,667; BONUSES: $300,000
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $333,333
If they need to they can always risk putting McLaren on waivers to move in a guy like Ashton/Leivo. Also, the Leafs could move Fraser/Liles to the Marlies if they want to make room for Rielly.
The disadvantage is playing with 12 forwards, but that shouldn't be an issue since it is only for the first 10 games, and like I explained, if they need more skill/speed than what McLaren offers, they can expose him to waivers. This happens a lot and is how we ended up with McLaren in the first place.
Worst case, we lose McLaren to waivers, and use Devane instead, which IMO is an improvement anyways.
This allows the Leafs to hold onto Liles, or at least means there isn't a gun to Nonis' head to move him in a bad trade to clear cap space (i.e. Colborne + Liles for 4th, etc.).