Deal For Roberts Dead
According to the Toronto Star the pending trade by the Leafs for former Leaf Gary Roberts is now dead according to Florida GM Mike Keenan. It is expected that Roberts will be back with the Cats next season.
There were pros and cons to bring back Gary into the fold. His age, injuries and high salary were not ideal for the current Leaf squad that is in turning-over-a-new-leaf mode. The opportunity gained from bringing back Roberts could have been opportunity lost for some of the Leafs younger forwards who really need the playing time.
However his leadership would have been great to bring back to give some of the younger guys a mentor which the Leafs kind of lack up front. Also has played for Maurice in the past and has good chemistry with some of the current Leaf forwards. And really, despite his age, the Leafs could have used his grit and scoring ability as the team is quite thin up front.
But now that this deal was put to rest, what now?
Well the Toronto Star also claims the Leafs have about $4 million left to spend to reach their self made cap of $42 million. The team wanted a bit of wiggle room under the $44 million dollar cap during the year.
Here is how the Leafs are shaping up for the 2006-07 season. Salaries, in U.S. dollars, are as they apply to the salary cap, which is the average salary over the term of the contract. So, for example, while goaltender Andrew Raycroft will earn $1.8 million this coming season, $2 million will be applied to the salary cap. That’s the average yearly income of his new three-year, $6 million contract.
Forwards
Mats Sundin…………….$6.33 million
Darcy Tucker…………..$1.6 million
Jeff O’Neill………………$1.5 million
Nik Antropov……………$1.007 million
Alex Steen………………$900,000
Chad Kilger……………..$900,000
Alex Ponikarovsky…….$712,500
Wade Belak……………..$670,000
John Pohl…………………$450,000
Defence
Bryan McCabe…………$5.75 million
Pavel Kubina…………..$5 million
Tomas Kaberle………..$4.25 million
Hal Gill………………….$2.07 million
Staffan Kronwall………$612,500
Goaltenders
Andrew Raycroft………$2 million
J.S. Aubin………………$500,000
Mikael Tellqvist………..$519,500
Players with unsigned qualifying offers
Matt Stajan……………..$738,150
Kyle Wellwood………….$500,100
Buyout money applied to cap
Tie Domi……………….$1.25 million
Ed Belfour……………..$752,000
Total: $38.01 million
Salary Cap: $44 million
Leafs wish to spend:
$42 million
Money left to spend:
$4 million
(IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THE ABOVE NUMBERS TAKE IT UP WITH THE TORONTO STAR)
The team still needs to find 2 forwards and 2 defencemen to fill out their roster.
Their choices within with estimated salaries are:
Forwards:
Jeremy Williams……..$450K
Bates Battaglia………$450K
Ben Ondrus…………..$475K
Alex Suglobov……….$700K
Defence:
Carlo Coliacovo……..$800K
Ian White……………..$450K
Jay Harrison………….$450K
Andy Wozniewski……$450K
Karel Pilar…………….$500K
The Leafs should be able to also squeeze another $500K to spend as one of the 2 potential backups in Aubin or Tellqvist will be dropped. So if the Leafs wish to get to $42 million, they have roughly $4.5 million to use.
What they do with that is anyone’s guess, but it sure looks like that money will not be used on Gary Roberts.