The announcement by the Leafs last week that they signed Boyd Devereaux to a 2-year contract is indication that the Leafs senior management has completed its year-end review and John Ferguson will remain at GM next season.
Although I'm not a Ferguson fan, a pragmatist view of the Leaf situation suggests that they have no choice at this point. With so many large contracts in place with no-trade provisions, replacing the GM is not a real option at this time. A new person will have no flexibility other than the ability to sign marginal players with low salaries (like Boyd Devereaux).
With Devereaux, the Leafs have 13 players signed for next season at just over $28 million. It's expected the NHL salary cap will rise from $44 to $47 million for next season. Key players who remain unsigned include Nik Antropov, Alex Ponikarovsky, Ian White, and Carlo Colaiacovo, all of whom should be contained to within $5 million.
If Sundin signs for around $6 million as I speculated previously, the Leafs' salary reaches $39 million, leaving some room to pursue free agents. Again, if Sundin gives the Leafs a break to beef up the roster, Ferguson will have more to work with. Then again, his tendency to date has been to overpay free agents.
12 years ago
