from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

They quietly placed Nathan Horton, Joffrey Lupul and Stephane Robidas on long-term injured reserve (LTIR) earlier this season — giving themselves the flexibility to operate more than $15-million above the $73-million cap for the remainder of the year.

That unlocks a world of possibilities in a cap-strapped league, especially since the cap itself is projected to rise only minimally in 2017–18.

In fact, some executives out there believe that cap space is almost as big an asset as draft picks when it comes to completing trades. And Toronto owns more of it at the deadline than any team not restricted by an internal spending budget.

Here’s the real kicker: Given their current situation, the Leafs are arguably incentivized to convert that LTIR room into something tangible.

They’re facing a significant 2017–18 overage either way and the $750,000 extra hit they’d take for going above the cap now could theoretically be offset by what they get in exchange for doing it.

At this stage, adding an $800,000 depth player in a deadline trade would have the same long-term impact on Toronto’s cap picture as acquiring someone who makes $4.25 million or even $7 million.

more