Former Leaf already having issues with new teammates and has been in two altercations since Thursday
After two seasons in Toronto that saw him become one of the league's best bargain contracts, Michael Bunting used his success with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to sign a 3-year deal with Carolina that will see him earn $4.5M per season. Bunting was an agitator for the Leafs but also garnered an embellishment reputation among the officials towards the end of his time with the Leafs.
While Bunting was a good teammate and a fan favourite in Toronto, it would seem that he is not as popular in Carolina, particularly with one new teammate, Brendan Lemieux. According to Hurricanes writer Cory Lavalette, Bunting and Lemieux have gotten into a pair of heated exchanges over the first week of training camp. From an intensity standpoint, it's good to see the new guys coming into camp and ready to go with that high energy, but from a team perspective, it could cause issues in the dressing room.
While Bunting has become an agitator to opponents, Lemieux has not had the greatest reputation around the league with opponents or teammates either, as the Canes are his fifth NHL team since he entered the league in 2017 and his third team in 2023. Hopefully this doesn't become a continuous thing, but if it does, the Canes will likely have to make a roster move to separate the two.
Lavalette didn't clarify who the aggressor or instigator in the altercations were, but it doesn't necessarily matter all that much either. Teammates need to be on the same page. Clearly, these two are not.
| POLL | ||
25 SEPTEMBRE | 4801 ANSWERS Former Leaf already having issues with new teammates and has been in two altercations since Thursday Is Michael Bunting actually a problem? | ||
| Yes, he's already got a bad reputation | 995 | 20.7 % |
| No, it must have been Lemieux's fault | 1262 | 26.3 % |
| Not sure | 467 | 9.7 % |
| Don't care - he's not our problem | 2077 | 43.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
