Toronto Maple Leafs: Joffrey Lupul Quietly became a Free Agent
Joffrey Lupul is officially no longer a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Joffrey Lupul became an unrestricted free agent July 1st, 2018, officially marking the end of his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
What else happened that day that may have distracted Leafs fans from this? The biggest NHL free agent signing in NHL history, John Tavares coming home to Toronto, probably did it.
Lupul left the Toronto Maple Leafs organization with 182 points (88 goals, 94 assists) in 282 games, spread out over 6 seasons. According to cap friendly, his last contract was signed January 1st 2013, it lasted 5 years at $5,250,000 per season ($26,250,000 total value).
Lupul only played 170 of a possible 410 games in that time. Spending the last two seasons on injury reserve before posting a video of him snowboarding on social media, attempting to prove he wasn’t as injured as the Leafs claim.
The departure of Joffrey Lupul, along with Leo Komarov, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, and Roman Polak, marks the end of a large piece of the pre-Auston Matthews Leafs that existed prior to the 2016/17 hockey season.
Post-Lupul
If there’s any lessons that can be learned from Joffrey Lupul and his tenure with the Leafs, it’s that sometimes injuries suck. Lupul scored 25 goals in his first season with the Leafs and appeared to be a key member of the core before injuries did him in.
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Often cited as the prototypical example of an ‘injury prone’ player, Lupul was really more the victim of bad luck. He had a back injury, a post-surgical infection, a broken wrist, a coupe of concussions, a broken arm from a puck, a sprained ankle, a bruised spine, a separated shoulder and a foot broken from a puck.
Lupul had a lot of injuries, but most of them were not related to each other – he just had a lot bad luck!
It’s terrible that his career has ended on different terms than his own, but he was, for a while, a very good player.
A this point, Lupul is 34 and hasn’t played in the NHL for two and a half seasons, so it seems unlikely he will be making a comeback. The biggest shame is that his injury history will overshadow the fact that, when he could play, he was a really, really good player.
Thanks for reading!
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Questions: Who was your favorite and least favorite Toronto Maple Leaf that departed in unrestricted free agency this Summer? Were you a fan of Joffrey Lupul back when he played for the Leafs, if so, what’s your favorite Joffrey Lupul moment/memory of him?