Dubas makes interesting comment when asked about the contract status of a pending UFA
Michael Bunting finished his rookie season with 23 goals and 63 points last season and now, in his second full NHL season, he's on pace for another 50+ point campaign this year with 15 goals and 35 points through 52 games. Bunting is in the final year of a two-year deal he signed with the Leafs in the summer of 2021 that sees him earn $950K per season and is likely in line for a fairly big raise come July 1st.
As much as Leaf fans want to keep him, and Bunting wants to stay, Kyle Dubas was non-committal to an extension for Bunting during his media availability yesterday. "We want to see what the rest of the year brings before we commit to anything necessarily," responded Dubas when asked about a Bunting extension and extensions for other pending UFA's such as David Kampf, Alexander Kerfoot and Pierre Engvall.
Those are fairly surprising words from Dubas regarding Bunting, whose history goes back to their time in the Soo. Of course, an extension for Bunting and others would also depend on their asking prices and how much cap flexibility Dubas has come July first, but after losing a similar player Zach Hyman, Dubas may want to ensure he doesn't lose Bunting. As he usually does though, Dubas and Bunting's agent could already be engaged in extension talks and Dubas is doing his best to keep things quiet so that the talks don't distract the team or Bunting through the media.
| POLL | ||
10 FEVRIER | 269 ANSWERS Dubas makes interesting comment when asked about the contract status of a pending UFA Will Michael Bunting be a Leaf next season? | ||
| Yes | 180 | 66.9 % |
| No | 89 | 33.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
