Andrew MacDonald and Luke Schenn have fallen out of favor in Philadelphia, and they add up to $8.36M in cap space for the 2015-2016 season. After this year Schenn becomes a free agent, while MacDonald is on the books until 2020 at a $5M cap hit.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf is under contract until 2021, only an extra year than MacDonald. Phaneuf, though, carries a cap hit that’s $2M larger per season.
The difference between Phaneuf and MacDonald is that Phaneuf is a serviceable NHL defender, while MacDonald has been playing at the level of a marginal NHLer – hence why he’s in the American Hockey League right now.