On Monday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs made three signings. Max Pacioretty, Steven Lorentz and Cade Webber are the newest names on the payroll. Both Pacioretty and Lorentz were involved in the Leafs training camp on a professional tryout (PTO). Webber was included in the signings from Monday morning and he shouldn’t be ignored. He’s been signed to a two-year, two-way deal.
?️ We’ve signed Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz to one-year contracts and Cade Webber to a two-year contract extension pic.twitter.com/odzWckDngm
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 7, 2024
What do These Signings Mean Going Forward
Ahead of the preseason, there was the understanding that Pacioretty was going to sign with the Maple Leafs, regardless of how his training camp went. Sure enough, the signing became official a couple of days before the Maple Leafs season opener. In the four games he featured in for preseason, he scored two goals and five points—a solid campaign from the 35-year-old. In Pacioretty’s contract, there are two chances at earning bonuses. He’ll earn himself a $313,115 bonus if he plays 10 games and again if he plays 35 games. Given his age, it’ll be a challenge for Pacioretty to become a regular in this team, but there is no doubt that he’s up for it.
As for Lorentz, his situation was a little more different. The Stanley Cup champion was not guaranteed a spot on the Leafs roster to the extent the Pacioretty was. However, he earned a contract with his play over the last two weeks. Lorentz has shown to be a textbook fourth-liner. Although, a fourth-liner who is extremely effective and elite at that role. At 6-foot-4, Lorentz plays a heavy, but elegant game. In the final preseason game, the 28-year-old opened the scoring for the Leafs and gave fans a flash of his brilliance.
While Webber most likely won’t be in the Leafs lineup this season, at least not regularly, there is still something in this signing. He’s going into his final year of a two-year deal but was signed for an extra two. The first year of his new contract is two-way, but the next year is one-way. That hints at the idea that the Leafs management thinks highly of him. So high to the point where they think he has a chance to make the NHL in the following season after this one.
LTIR and Retaining Cap
The Maple Leafs have many players on the roster. According to PuckPedia, Toronto has 15 forwards and 10 defencemen on the current roster. Although, of those 25 players, there are four that are on the injury reserve list. Calle Jarnkrok, Dakota Mermis, and Jani Hakanpaa are all on LTIR. In addition to that, Connor Dewar is on IR. Also, the Maple Leafs could place Fraser Minten on season-opening IR, which will help retain cap for some time.
The team also assigned Easton Cowan back to the OHL with the London Knights. Cowan was selected in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft and featured in all but one preseason game. The more exhibition games he played, the better he performed. However, there is too much depth in the Leafs forward group that there is no space for Cowan on the NHL roster. Unfortunately for him, he isn’t eligible to be sent down to the Marlies, which would be ideal for both the player and the team. At any rate, it’ll be one more season in London for Cowan.
Leafs are cap compliant by $1 with these moves after signing Pacioretty and Lorentz:
• Send down Cowan
• SOIR Minten ($76,562 against the cap)
• IR Dewar
• LTIR Jarnkrok, Hakanpaa, Mermis— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) October 7, 2024
It’s also worth noting something that doesn’t involve injuries. Lately, in the Leafs’ practices, Timothy Liljegren has been looking from the outside of the lineup. He’s been positioned as the extra defenceman behind Conor Timmins. Liljegren holds $3M against the cap and if he continues to be a healthy scratch, it only makes sense to trade him and relieve some of that unused cap space.
Main Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
