So there will be no big fish landing in Toronto.
But the Maple Leafs certainly have some whale-sized contracts on hand to work with.
The Leafs whiffed on Steven Stamkos in the free-agent derby, but that's not cataclysmic to president Brendan Shanahan's buildup of the roster. This is a young team with a good prospect base that's still years away from really contending.
What it does do, however, is put the Leafs in an interesting situation, with a lot of salary-cap space and a lot of players on the roster. Not all of them are wanted, either.
In order to be active in free agency, which opens at noon on Friday, someone will have to go.
The top candidate to be moved right now is goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Pushed into a backup role behind newcomer Frederik Andersen, Bernier makes $4.15-million (U.S.) on the cap but has a $2-million bonus that's owed on Friday. The Leafs could pay that money out early in the day, and an acquiring team would only have to give him a little more than half his salary for the coming year.
For a budget team in need of a solid backup – like Anaheim or Nashville – it could make sense.
If Toronto makes a trade in the next few days, that is the most likely one.
Beyond that, the Leafs real logjam is up front. With incoming kids such as Auston Matthews (first overall this year) and Mitch Marner (fourth overall in 2015), they will have a few more forwards than they can fit on a 23-man roster to start the year.
Like Bernier, many of the veterans are making big money and fit for only a minimal role. There's Joffrey Lupul ($5.25-million), Brooks Laich ($4.5-million), Milan Michalek ($4-million) and Colin Greening ($2.65-million), who could combine in some form as the most expensive fourth line in hockey.
Then there's the contract of "injured" 39-year-old defenceman Stéphane Robidas, which sat on the books all season last year after he was sent home under mysterious circumstances.
It's a lot of money – nearly $20-million – but the Leafs surprisingly still aren't pressed against the cap. With so many young players – as many as a dozen – likely to make the roster, general manager Lou Lamoriello will likely still have more than $7-million in spending money after his restricted free agents are signed.
The more pressing issue is where to put all of these players, especially if they want to make a sensible addition or two in free agency. The Leafs don't exactly want the minor-league Toronto Marlies cluttered up with vets who don't want to be there. And they can't risk waiving young players such as Josh Leivo in October just to appease these older players.
Loophole Lou may have to get creative again to make more of these deals disappear, which has some players uneasy about what's coming in training camp.
The only position the Leafs could be set at is on the blueline, where they have six younger players and veteran Matt Hunwick returning. Martin Marincin, Connor Carrick and Frank Corrado are restricted free agents who need new deals, but they shouldn't be costly.
A big question is if Toronto is willing to go into the season with such a young, untested group. At the moment, Nikita Zaitsev – one of the top defencemen in Russia last season – is set to grab a top-four role, and it's hard to project how he'll fare in those key minutes.
As currently constructed, the Leafs defence is set to dedicate huge minutes to Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner again.
The Leafs don't have to do anything major this off-season. They've got a full roster, but as constructed, it's heavy on young players and weak veterans and won't likely be enough to contend for a playoff spot – even if Andersen excels, as advertised, as a No. 1 goalie.
Does that matter? Not to the rebuild – not when it'll mean another decent draft pick 12 months from now. But there's a growing sense around the organization that they're hoping for a bigger step forward next season. They're patient – but only to a point.
What the Leafs do in the coming weeks will determine if that big leap is possible.