Newly-minted Leaf Tyler Bertuzzi reveals why he chose the Leafs in free agency
Ex-Bruin and Red Wing Tyler Bertuzzi was looking for a 7-year deal when free agency opened on Saturday, but quickly realized that teams were not going to be able to accommodate his ask with the salary cap remaining relatively flat again this summer.
Once it became apparent that a long-term deal at more than $5M was out of the cards, he quickly adapted to the market and decided to take more of a short-term approach. However, as much as he would have welcomed a return to Boston, there was another team with whom he felt he could do some damage. The Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs were able to secure Bertuzzi's services for the upcoming season by signing him to a 1-year deal worth $5.5M. That, along with Max Domi's 1-year deal put the Leafs well over the cap, at least for the moment and could mean that there is a trade or two coming.
On Monday, Bertuzzi spoke with the Toronto media about his decision to sign in Toronto and made a surprising comment regarding the Leafs, especially coming over from.a division rival in Boston. "I wanted to go to a team that I thought had a great chance to win, and Toronto was top of my list," said Bertuzzi on signing a 1-year deal with the blue and white.
Bertuzzi is betting on himself this season on a short-term deal so that he can have the chance to cash in next year when the cap is expected to increase substantially. As Elliotte Friedman pointed out on yesterday's 32 Thoughts, when a player signs a deal like Bertuzzi did, you want to go to a place you can score and he should be able to do that playing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner or John Tavares and William Nylander. Bertuzzi has dealt with his fair share of injuries over the past few seasons, but still managed to score 30 goals in 2021-2022 and put up 30 points in 50 games last season between the Red Wings and Bruins. He also tallied 10 points in 7 playoff games with Boston.
The Sudbury, Ontario native should be able to provide the Leafs with some stable, secondary scoring and plenty of grit and "snot", as Brad Treliving stated yesterday. To hear that Toronto was at the top of his list is music to the ears of Leafs Nation, who just watched a number of players walk away during free agency. The team wants players who want to be in Toronto. If Bertuzzi's desire to be a Leaf is genuine, it's going to be fun to watch him play his heart out in the blue and white.
