cap – BIG

Earlier in the day, the Toronto Maple Leafs had two unidentified goaltenders on the ice for their morning skate Tuesday, ahead of that night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The team managed to recall Joseph Woll by using the Roster Emergency Exemption (REE), something they were unable to use on Monday after the NHL deemed that conditions for it were not met.

The Leafs finally got the league to allow them to recall Woll despite cap complications, but it sounds like the Leafs are the only ones to blame here. Darren Dreger explained on last night’s Insider Trading on TSN how the NHL might not make changes in the CBA going forward despite the mess in Toronto.

« It’s not going to lead to an imminent change but what it leads to is more speculation and discussions among NHL clubs, specifically NHL general managers. When you’re a cap team like the Maple Leafs, you’re probably looking at that predicament and recognizing that that this is the most important position on the roster.

So it could be that the NHL, inside the collective bargaining agreement with the players’ association, create a specific emergency recall scenario for goalies only. Or at least more allowance and flexibility in what is a very rigid system right now that governs that emergency recall.

For the Maple Leafs, there was an argument that they put themselves in that situation by signing rookie Matthew Knies to his first NHL contract, but they could not control the concussion that goaltender Matt Murray suffered. So, it’s no question it’s problematic and there will be more dialogue required. »

The Leafs did not have the cap space to recall Woll, however the REE allows for a recall with no cap hit.

The Leafs surely couldn’t predict the injuries in between the pipes, but you got to have some room for desperate situations like this! All 31 other teams appear to be able to do so…

Recommended articles:

Boston Bruins forward Taylor Hall has been absent since February 25 thank to a lower body injury he suffered on the team road swing. While he has returned to team practice and reportedly feels ready to come back from LTIR list, the Bruins cannot facilitate his return.

Darren Dreger explained on last night’s Insider Trading on TSN how the Bruins don’t have the cap space to facilitate such a roster move.

“We know, according to reports and video, that Hall has been skating with the Bruins for several days now. Sources say that he feels he is ready. The problem is the Bruins don’t have the cap space to activate Hall. Now the NHL playoffs are less than three weeks away so it’s going to be interesting to see how the Bruins manage this situation or, if like the Tampa Bay Lightning a few years ago, they try and stretch it out until the start of the postseason so it’s something that I’m sure other clubs are paying attention to as well.”

When Hall was placed on long-term injured reserve in March, the Bruins were able to absorb the salary of Tyler Bertuzzi, whom they acquired in a swap with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL trade deadline. Boston saved as much as $6 million by placing Hall on LTIR.

But now that he’s ready to return, money is too tight… Per Cap Friendly, Boston currently has just $39,062 in available cap space, which is far from enough to bring Hall back.

The NHL rules would however allow the Bruins to bring Hall back for the postseason without going over the salary cap. This is a loophole that was used by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021 with star forward Nikita Kucherov, and it was potentially part of Boston’s plan all along.

The Bruins have already clinched a playoff spot and with just nine games left in the regular season, it makes sense that Hall will only return once the postseason gets underway in mid-April.

Recommended articles: