While the Maple Leafs surprised many by including under-used forward Josh Leivo among the 11 players they were allowed to protect, the wild card in this week’s Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft as far as Toronto is concerned is Joffrey Lupul.He is, oddly enough, eligible for selection, despite missing the entire season with an injury. All other NHL players who missed the full schedule because of injury — including the Leafs’ Stephane Robidas and Nathan Horton — are ineligible.“None of the draft exemptions were automatic,” said NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly. “Each were evaluated on a case-by-case basis. That includes Lupul.”So either Lupul believes he is healthy enough to play or Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello, the king of finding loopholes in the NHL’s rules, has a deal with Vegas GM George McPhee to take Lupul and his $5.25-million contract off Toronto’s books and stay away from a high-end prospect, such as Brendan Leipsic or Kerby Rychel.The Leafs also protected forwards Tyler Bozak, Connor Brown, Nazem Kadri, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin and James van Riemsdyk, plus defencemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner and Connor Carrick, and goalie Frederik Andersen.They are heading towards a salary-cap squeeze, though, with nearly $14 million in dead money. That includes: bonuses paid to last year’s excellent rookies, carried over to this season; salary for those too injured to play or already bought out; salaries retained in trades.For Vegas — which has to pick one player from each team by 10 a.m. Wednesday, with salaries totaling at least $43.8 million (all dollar figures U.S.) — taking Lupul only makes sense if it comes with a sweetener, perhaps the Leafs’ first-round pick in this week’s draft. Later Sunday, the NHL announced the salary cap for this coming season will rise by $2 million to $75 million, making the salary floor $55.4 million for the opening rosters of al ...
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