Two former Leafs excelling with their new teams through their first 6 games of the season
The season may be young, but after most teams have played 5 or 6 games, we're beginning to see who the impact players are. As far as former Maple Leafs are concerned, there are 2 players who are quickly becoming difference-makers for their new clubs.
This summer, a lot of the talk in Toronto was about whether or not the Leafs would be able to re-sign Ryan O'Reilly. While Brad Treliving certainly tried, in the end, it was the Nashville Predators who put together the best offer for O'Reilly, whether that be because of money, term, location or a combination of the 3. The move has paid off for the Preds during the first 6 games of the season.
O'Reilly, 32, was brought in to help offset the losses of Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen, but he's done more than that thus far. Through 6 games, O'Reilly has contributed 4 points (2G, 2A) and is a 72.9 xGF% in Nashville. He's also ~53% in the faceoff dot and has accumulated 6 hits, 6 blocked shots and 7 takeaways. He's doing it all for the Preds.
Meanwhile, in the Eastern Conference, Michael Bunting is having a stellar start of his own in Carolina. With 6 games under his belt with the Canes, Bunting has produced 2 goals and 3 assists for a total of 5 points, putting him on a 68-point pace. He's also averaging more ice time than he ever has in his career before with 18:29 ATOI.
Unfortunately for the Leafs, both Bunting and O'Reilly priced themselves out of Toronto inking 3 and 4-year deals, respectively. Both former Leafs make $4.5M per season, which would have totaled $9M had they remained in Toronto. Instead, the Leafs opted to bring in Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi to replace them for a combined cost of $8.5M, creating $500K in net savings.
As far as whether or not the Leafs have improved as a result, it's still early, but with Bertuzzi having contributed just 1 point and Domi having contributed 3 points, the early returns are probably a bit below where the Leafs would have liked them to be through 5 games. However, with the salary cap constraints that the Leafs are under, is saving that $500K a little more valuable than the extra 5 points through the first 5 games? I suppose it's not really a fair question since Domi and Bertuzzi don't carry the same term that Bunting and O'Reilly do. Plus, as we all know, it's not how you start the season - it's how you finish it.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 23 | 367 ANSWERS Two former Leafs excelling with their new teams through their first 6 games of the season Which duo would you rather have on the Leafs right now? | ||
| Bunting/O'Reilly at $9M | 161 | 43.9 % |
| Bertuzzi/Domi at $8.5M | 206 | 56.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
