After a very disappointing opening day in free agency for Toronto, Brad Treliving & Partners followed that up with a great day two booking Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi on one-year deals.
Just six days into July, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost a lot of players from their organization, but also brought in a few fresh faces.
Ryan Reeves, John Klingberg, Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Dumey and Dylan Gambrell are five of the most notable signings Brad Treliving has made so far in his first season with the Maple Leafs GM. However, if you look at the bottom six of them, they may need a little more work, and there are some names left in the market that can help Toronto boost their bottom six and won’t be too expensive for them to sign.
Now it all depends on what Toronto’s cap looks like when the season comes around, but as of now, he’s topped the $8.831 million salary cap with all new signings in the past week.
However, their cap area with LTIR candidates is $3.206 million (Muzzin on LTIR). A Matt Murray deal or buyout with players like Nick Robertson, Dylan Gambrell and Pontus Holmberg sent to the Marlies would give the club enough room to sign Ilya Samsonov and possibly another striker for the final six.
Also, we don’t know who Treliving might be trading if he went down this route. Would he trade Nelander in the off-season if the two parties could not come to terms on a contract extension? Is he trading someone off his blue line so he can remake the backend like he’s said a few times lately? We’ll have to wait and see what he decides to do.
1. Danton Heinen – 28 years old – LW/RW – 6’1 – 188 lbs
2022-23 stats: 65 GP – 8 G – 14 A – 22 PTS – 10:45 TOI
Most recent contract: 1 year, $1 million
I’m a little surprised Danton Heinen is still on the market.
The 28-year-old doesn’t attack you offensively, but for someone with a role in the bottom six and responsible defensively, putting between 20 and 30 points is more than acceptable and should earn you a contract for free. an agency. Although some teams have little or no money, so maybe that’s why it’s still on the market.
Heinen is coming up with eight goals, 22 points in 65 games with the Penguins which is a season further than his 18-goal, 33-point season with Pittsburgh during the 2021-22 season when he was fit for 76 games.
He’s bounced around quite a bit, moving from the Bruins to the Ducks and then the Penguins all in the span of three full seasons, so when he signs his next contract, he might want some terms to guarantee a home for the foreseeable future. However, with a salary cap and many one-year deals happening in the off-season, don’t be surprised if Heinen gets another year deal wherever he signs.
This is the player’s graph from J Fresh Hockey:
2. Beus Sutter – 27 years old – C/LW – 5’11 – 176 lbs
2022-23 stats: 79 GP – 14 G – 10 A – 24 points – 14:04 TOI
Most recent contract: 2 years, $6.5 million (US$3.25 million)
Beus Sutter, 27, remains another productive two-way, late-six player available on the free agent market.
Sutter is coming out of a two-year contract ($3.25 million USD) with the Detroit Red Wings who signed him again in 2021 after just one season in the NHL which was with the Chicago Blackhawks.
He’s coming off a down year compared to his freshman season with the Red Wings and his rookie season with the Blackhawks. Last season, he scored 14 goals and 24 points in 79 games, the previous season he scored 15 goals and 36 points in 82 games, and in his season with Chicago, he scored 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games.
So by the look of his stats over his first three seasons, he looks like someone who can give you 14-15 goals while playing responsibly and being an elite penalty killer, something Toronto has lost out on during free agency as Alex Kerfoot, Noel Aciari and Ryan O’Reilly signed elsewhere. .
And can you guess where Sutter played junior hockey? Guelph Storm of the OHL during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons with Tyler Bertuzzi on the roster as well. Bertuzzi has, of course, been his teammate at Detroit for the past two seasons and is now a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This is the player’s graph from J Fresh Hockey:
3. Tyler Mott – 28 years old – LW/RW – 5’10 – 192 lbs
2022-23 stats: 62 GP – 8 G – 11 A – 19 points – 12:34 TOI
Most recent contract: 1 year, $1.25 million
The last of the six players I mention today is 28-year-old Tyler Mott.
Motte has bounced around quite a bit in his NHL career and has been traded on consecutive trade deadlines to the New York Rangers, so Motte, just like the other players you talked about, and the other players in the market, is probably looking for a slot, but given the salary cap, He is likely to get a one-year deal.
Unlike Heinen and Suter, Motte brings a little less to the table when it comes to offense, and given his production should be getting him less than $1 million on his next contract, I still think he’d be a good depth forward on the cheap.
However, he fell out of his career last season, scoring eight goals and 19 points while averaging a 12:14 TOI and playing a physical type of hockey.
Last season, Moti recorded 118 hits and hit the 100 mark in each of the previous four seasons ahead of the 2022-23 season.
This is the player’s graph from J Fresh Hockey:
(stats from Hockey-Reference.com)
(Contract information from PuckPedia.com)