Brad Treliving's reckless signings will now force him to make a trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs failed to go deep in the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again in 2024, and heading into the off-season, it was expected that they would be very aggressive. Now, it appears they've been a little too aggressive, as their day one spending in free agency has pushed them $1.5 million over the salary cap.

That money doesn't include what they will need to pay RFA Connor Dewar, and while the additions of Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz and Jani Hakanpaa have been solid, it's left them in a tough spot.

However, there are solutions out there, as a team like the Calgary Flames have $21 million in salary cap space right now, and if Treliving is willing to deal with his former team, he may have the chance to offload a veteran like Jarnkrok, Kampf or Reaves. That will cost the team additional future assets, but for a team looking for a bit of flexibility as they chase the Stanley Cup, those are sacrifices they need to make, so now we will wait and see how they handle the rest of a critical off-season before the 2024/25 campaign.

Source: Hockey Patrol
Toronto Maple Leafs will be forced to make a trade soon due to cap constraints