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 | ||
OCTOBRE 10 | 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 % |
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