Cap Figures of Injured Leafs Reaches Staggering Number After Matthew Knies Goes Down

It's been nothing short of a nightmare start for the Maple Leafs, and their injury situation is spiraling into something far beyond bad luck. What began as a small concern in training camp has snowballed into a full-on crisis.

The trouble started before the season even officially began, when Scott Laughton went down with an injury in camp, forcing the Leafs' lineup combinations into chaos before they ever had a chance to settle. Since then, the list of injured players has only grown, and it's grown fast.

Now, with multiple core pieces sidelined, it's safe to say the Maple Leafs' season won't be getting any easier anytime soon.

Toronto currently has roughly $36 million, which is around 40% of their entire salary cap, sitting on the injured list.

For some teams, losing even 10 percent of their cap to injuries is season-derailing. For the Leafs, the number is nearly four times that, and climbing.

Ahead of their matchup with the St. Louis Blues, Matthew Knies was ruled out with a lower-body injury, another brutal blow for a team already hanging on by a thread.

Unlike situations we've seen around the league where one or two players conveniently remain out until Game 1 of the playoffs, Toronto's injuries don't even pose an opportunity to capitalize, as the injuries are not of the season-ending variety.

It's been one major loss after another, making it nearly impossible to generate momentum or snap the losing streak. Still, the Leafs found a way to get back into the win column on Tuesday, thanks to a 3-2 OT win over St. Louis.

Unless this injury avalanche slows down, the Leafs are going to have a tough time building any sort of sustainable momentum. Thankfully, a handful of players have resumed skating, including Auston Matthews, Chris Tanev and Scott Laughton.