Leafs sign six players, but they have already lost seven to free agency.
After undergoing some changes in July, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been active in free agency thus far.
For a while, it appeared as though the team might only be adding enforcer Ryan Reaves to its roster. However, Toronto signed veteran defenseman John Klingberg to a $4.15 million, one-year contract.
Along with the addition of defensemen William Lagesson, Max Lajoie, and Marshall Rifai, Toronto also announced on Saturday that goaltender Artur Akhtyamov had signed.
Each of the four players has a two-way contract; Akhtyamov’s salary is $851,667, while the salaries of the other three players total $775,000.
Lagesson and Lajoie were teammates on the Chicago Wolves last season; Rifai skated for the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.
In the meantime, Akhtyamov competed for Neftyanik Almetievsk in the Russian second division, the VHL.
With Toronto’s arrivals, however, there were also some departures.
For next season, new homes have been found for Luke Schenn and Ryan O’Reilly (both Nashville), Michael Bunting (Carolina), Alex Kerfoot (Arizona), Justin Holl (Detroit), Erik Kallgren (New Jersey), and Noel Acciari (Pittsburgh).
With O’Reilly emerging as the team’s apparent leader in his brief tenure with the Leafs and Bunting as a top-line player, Toronto is left with some holes to fill.
It appears that the team will be adding players this summer, though.
General manager Brad Treliving told the Toronto media on Saturday, “We had some goals walk out the door here today.”
We absolutely want to keep working on goal scoring throughout the summer, not just today.
Following a low-cap hit signing with his hometown in the 2021 off-season, Michael Bunting signed a three-year, $13.5 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, which includes a modified no-trade clause for the first two years of the agreement.
Upon his arrival in Toronto, the Scarborough native quickly became a fan favorite and added a dimension to the lineup that the Maple Leafs had been lacking in previous seasons.
particularly soon after the Edmonton Oilers signed Zach Hyman to a free agent contract.
Alongside Matthews and Marner, the 28-year-old was mostly ranked in the top six. During his two seasons with Toronto, he participated in 161 games, scoring 46 goals and dishing out 66 assists for 112 points.
Together with Trevor Zegras and Moritz Seider, he also qualified as a finalist for the 2022 Calder Trophy. Bunting has made a fast start to his time in Carolina after joining the Hurricanes and departing the Maple Leafs.
After players like Kotkaniemi, Jarvis, Necas, and Teravainen, he finished fifth in the team scoring standings with eight points (three goals and five assists) in ten games in October.
His smooth integration into the Hurricanes’ system is what has contributed to his success. He has a chance to have a big season because of his willingness to cycle the puck, aggressively forecheck, and go into the corners and front of the net.
It is going well so far. He is on pace to record a career-high 66 points per game, just shy of the 63 he set with Toronto in 2021–2022, while playing an average of just under 18 minutes per night.
After Kyle Dubas finalized a trade with the St. Louis Blues that sent Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari to Toronto in exchange for two AHL players and draft picks, there was a renewed buzz in Toronto.
To get fans excited about O’Reilly wearing a different shade of blue for the rest of the season and the playoffs, all they needed to do was look at his playoff record.
The native of Clinton, Ontario, blended in with Toronto almost immediately. If you recall the team’s first-round playoff game against the Lightning,
Toronto’s victory in the final round, their first since 2004, was largely due to him. His nine points in eleven games over two playoff rounds against Florida and Tampa Bay was impressive to watch and played a major role in their victories over the Lightning in Games 3 and 4.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
