Reporter shares exciting update on the Maple Leafs and Tyler Bertuzzi
The Toronto Maple Leafs and feisty winger Tyler Bertuzzi have reportedly opened discussions on a new contract that would keep the Sudbury native in Ontario.
After an up-and-down season, in which Bertuzzi had recorded just 43 points in 80 regular season games, the 29-year-old winger was unable to replicate last year's postseason success, coming up far short of his 10-point effort in 7 games for the Boston Bruins in 2022-23. In 2023-24, Bertuzzi managed just 1 goal and 3 assists in 7 games for the Maple Leafs against his former team.
The Leafs as a whole looked somewhat disjointed in the offensive zone against Boston in this year's playoffs. That, along with Jeremy Swayman's excellent performance, was enough to propel the Bruins past the Leafs yet again.
For Bertuzzi, it wasn't all bad this season. After a slow start to the year, the second half of his season was much more productive and the player himself was noticeably more physically engaged than he was at the start of his Maple Leafs tenure.
Now, as The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta is reporting, the Leafs are engaged in talks with Bertuzzi in an attempt to extend the partnership.
Bertuzzi signed a 1-year deal with the Leafs during free agency last summer, worth $5.5M. At the time, Bertuzzi was looking for more term, but with the Leafs' cap situation uncertain, given the impending Auston Matthews and William Nylander negotiations, it made it difficult to commit beyond one year.
Now, with both Matthews and Nylander having signed their extensions, and with captain John Tavares officially coming off the books next summer, combined with the ongoing Mitch Marner trade rumours, we could very well see the Leafs and Bertuzzi come to terms on a long-term pact.
As far as the cap dollars are concerned, I don't know how much of a discount Bertuzzi would be willing to take in order to remain a Maple Leaf. At the very least, I'd imagine his cap hit will remain somewhere in the range that it's in now, at or above the $5.5M threshold.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 1 | 457 ANSWERS Reporter shares exciting update on the Maple Leafs and Tyler Bertuzzi How many years should the Leafs go with Tyler Bertuzzi's extension? | ||
| 3 or less | 288 | 63 % |
| 4-5 | 160 | 35 % |
| 6-7 | 3 | 0.7 % |
| The full 8 years | 6 | 1.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
