New CBA Cracks Down on the Maple Leafs' Most Utilized Trade Deadline Tactic
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton - Imagn Images
The Leafs' most-used trade tactic is no longer going to be available to them starting in 2026-27 and that could be real a cause for concern moving forward.
Over the years, a very common trend in the NHL has been adding a third team to a deal to help broker a trade. The third team generally eats 25-50% of someone's salary, and in return, they receive draft compensation.
It's a move widely seen during the trade deadline from the likes of Toronto, Vegas, and Tampa Bay, amongst other contenders. However, under the new CBA, which was just agreed upon by the NHL and NHLPA, that trade tactic will become nearly obsolete.
The new agreement, that is set to take effect starting in 2026-27, has many different changes, like an 84-game regular season and a playoff salary cap, but one rule that hasn't gotten enough recognition is their change regarding double retention.
In a recent article from Tyler Kuehl from Daily Faceoff, he outlines the new rule that essentially takes a very important arrow out of the Maple Leafs' quiver for years to come.
"If a player is traded to one team, with salary being retained by one team, the moved player cannot have more salary retained if traded again within 75 days of the first deal. Those days only count during the regular season, so that timeline could stretch to multiple seasons."
In recent years, the Maple Leafs have utilized the double retention in deals that landed them Ilya Lyubushkin, Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari, and Nick Foligno. It's a tactic that has served them well under financial crunches at the measly cost of a mid-to-late round draft pick.
However, if we're looking to be optimistic, the Maple Leafs might not have to concern themselves too much with the loss of this tactic, considering how the salary cap is rising over the next few years.
As of today, they have over $5 million in available cap space and that figure could increase if they can find a way to move out contracts like Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf before the season begins.
The new rule essentially closes the books on deals involving double retention, meaning GMs like Brad Treliving will have to find other ways to get creative as the new CBA is cracking down on a lot of different loopholes.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 14 | 1669 ANSWERS New CBA Cracks Down on the Maple Leafs' Most Utilized Trade Deadline Tactic Do you believe the NHL should have cracked down on double retention? | ||
| Yes | 1093 | 65.5 % |
| No | 576 | 34.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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