The Toronto Maple Leafs have a break until February 22nd as the 4 Nations Face-Off takes center stage.

While fans enjoy some long-awaited international hockey, the Leafs’ front office will be focused on strengthening the roster for a playoff push.

As things stand, the Maple Leafs have virtually no cap space. In fact, if their entire roster—including Calle Järnkrok—were healthy, they’d be roughly $2.5 million over the cap.

Clearly, if the Leafs want to upgrade their roster, which they certainly do, they’ll need to move some bad contracts to free up space.

Contracts the Maple Leafs Must Shed at All Costs

Ideally, Toronto would add center Scott Laughton and defenseman Noah Dobson for a deep playoff run. The duo carries a combined cap hit of $7 million, making it highly unlikely that their current teams would retain any salary, given the already steep acquisition cost.

First, Calle Järnkrok and his $2.1 million cap hit need to go. He’s a useful player, so moving his contract shouldn’t be too difficult.

Second, Connor Dewar’s $1.18 million salary has to go as well. He’s been one of the worst players in the NHL this season, and the Leafs had no reason to sign him above the league minimum. With him being a pending UFA, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a team willing to take him.

However, moving these two doesn’t immediately help since they’re currently on IR and not counting against the cap—though they will return, which is why Toronto must move them.

Even with those contracts off the books, the Leafs still need to clear $7 million to bring in their desired playoff upgrades.

Shedding Max Domi’s 4-year, $3.5 million AAV contract would be a major step toward creating cap space, but moving it won’t come cheap. The Leafs will likely have to include Domi in any trade for a defenseman—whether it’s Noah Dobson or someone else—which will only make the trade costlier.

That said, there’s no way around it. If the Leafs want to add pieces for a playoff run, Domi has to go.

To make room for Scott Laughton, Toronto will also need to move Ryan Reaves and David Kämpf. Their combined salaries would clear enough space, and neither player would be a significant loss. The Leafs could fill their spots internally with Pontus Holmberg and Alex Steeves, while Laughton would be a solid upgrade in the third-line center role.

This exercise really highlights the Leafs’ predicament: to add just two key players for a playoff push, they’d have to offload Järnkrok, Dewar, Reaves, Domi, and Kämpf—essentially 25% of their roster at the trade deadline.

Is that realistic? Probably not.

And that’s exactly why the Leafs likely won’t make a significant addition, why they won’t win a playoff series, and ultimately, why they’ll probably have a new GM and President next season.