Leafs sign depth forward to 1-year deal
The Leafs invited 25-year-old Noah Gregor to training camp on a PTO after the San Jose Sharks chose not to issue him a qualifying offer this summer. When he joined the Leafs in Toronto, Gregor himself said that he was surprised the Sharks did not bring him back, but that Toronto had been persistent since free agency opened, making the decision to sign a PTO with the Leafs an easy one.
Gregor was brought into camp to challenge for a bottom-six role and add to the Leafs' depth if he did enough to earn a contract. Throughout camp, Gregor utilized his speed and tenaciousness to recover pucks and create scoring chances for himself and his teammates and he quickly found a home on the Leafs' penalty kill. His play ultimately forced Brad Treliving to deal Sam Lafferty and his $1.15M cap hit to Vancouver to create cap space so that the Leafs could sign Gregor.
Gregor had been at practice yesterday and today without a contract, largely due to cap complications while the Leafs worked to make themselves compliant, but finally signed his contract today following practice. Gregor's deal is a 1-year pact worth $775K. In signing Gregor, the Leafs got a player that does everything Lafferty did, but at a much cheaper cost and it should allow them to field a 21-man roster to start the season.
Gregor was a fourth-round pick of the Sharks in the 2016 draft and played his first full NHL season during the 2021-22 season, racking up 23 points. Last season, Gregor set a career high with 10 goals and added 7 assists in 57 games. Gregor appears to be slotted into the Leafs' fourth line alongside David Kampf and Ryan Reaves for the time-being as that is where he practiced the past two days. It is expected that he will also see additional ice-time on the penalty kill, where the Leafs hope his speed will generate some shorthanded chances.
| POLL | ||
10 OCTOBRE | 122 ANSWERS Leafs sign depth forward to 1-year deal Are you happy to see Noah Gregor earn a 1-year deal with the Leafs out of training camp? | ||
| Yes, he deserved it | 87 | 71.3 % |
| The deal is fine, but he's a replacement level guy | 30 | 24.6 % |
| We didn't need Gregor. Don't like the decision | 5 | 4.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
