Additionally, the Toronto Maple Leafs just signed Cody Ceci to a contract that pays him roughly what Nikta Zaitsev was making.
The Ceci signing seemed to eat up all the remaining money that could have potentially brought back Jake Gardiner.
But the dream ain’t dead yet.
How the Toronto Maple Leafs can Sign Both Players
The Toronto Maple Leafs capfriendly.com page shows that the Leafs currently have $3 765 301 in available cap-space.
In addition, Nathan Horton’s salary of $5.3 million can be moved to the LTIR once the season starts and it won’t count towards the Leafs cap.