Insider reveals what the Tyler Bertuzzi extension will look like in Toronto

After a brief NHL career, ex-St. Louis Blues and Toronto Marlies defenseman Jordan Schmaltz has opted to use his NHL and AHL connections to dig up information and share it with the world. His latest tidbit has come in the form of a contract projection for Bertuzzi.

Schmaltz, who spent 1 season with the Toronto Marlies back in 2019-20, believes that the Bertuzzi extension will come in lower than his current AAV ($5.5M). According to Schmaltz, a 3-year deal worth $4.75M per season should be right in the ballpark for Bertuzzi, but there's on catch.

With the Maple Leafs being one of the richest teams in the NHL, money is really no object. Unfortunately, in a salary cap world, the Leafs can't flex their financial muscle like they'd like to. They do, however, have one tool that they like to use to sweeten the deal for players. They like to hand out large signing bonuses.

Schmaltz believes that the Leafs can sweeten the pot for Bertuzzi by paying him nearly half of his salary, a projected $7M of the $14.25M Schmaltz believes he'll earn, in the form of a signing bonus.

For Bertuzzi, the level of production this season was not quite up to par with what fans and analysts alike had expected. With just 43 points in 80 games in Toronto this past season, the snake bitten Bertuzzi barely surpassed the 0.5 points per game threshold.

Coming off of a 10-point performance in 7 games for the Boston Bruins against the Florida Panthers in the 2022-23 playoffs, everyone thought Bertuzzi was really going to inflate his value in Toronto this past season, playing with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander. While he had his chances, his failure to convert early and often came back to haunt him.

Perhaps the low offensive output is a blessing in disguise here for the Maple Leafs. If it can help land Bertuzzi on a multi-year deal at a lower AAV than he earned last season, there's not a lot to hate about that.