What initially appeared to be something of a goaltending crisis for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday may actually have been part of a bigger plan on the part of general manager Kyle Dubas and company.
The Maple Leafs backed themselves into that crisis on Saturday after sending goaltender Joseph Woll down to the American Hockey League and calling up veteran Wayne Simmonds, giving the team insufficient cap space to call Woll back up should the need arise. That need would arise when veteran goaltender Matt Murray proved to be unable to back up Ilya Samsonov, forcing the Leafs to sign an amateur goalie for tonight’s game.
While this may not be ideal for the Maple Leafs tonight, it also appears to have put them in an ideal scenario moving forward should the organization have the intent of signing one of their top prospects in forward Matthew Knies in the coming days.
According to Cap Friendly, by playing short tonight the Maple Leafs have created a scenario in which they would be able to sign Knies to a new deal and call Woll back up to the main roster as early as this weekend. After creating an emergency situation as per the rules of the collective bargaining agreement by playing short tonight, the Leafs would have to send Wayne Simmonds back down, sign Matthew Knies to an entry level contract, and recall Woll on an emergency basis to make it all fit… but it could all fit.
Knies will be playing in what could be the final game of his collegiate career tonight in the Frozen Four, and many suspect that the Maple Leafs will be quick to sign him following the conclusion of his season.
Could what looked like an unfortunate situation for the Maple Leafs prove to be a stroke of salary cap genius from Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs? Only time will tell.
