No. 2: Michael Pezzetta (Montreal Canadiens, LW)
The pending RFA only has 30 NHL games of experience, but he could be a spark-plug in the team’s bottom six.
Over the past year, Pezzetta has fought some heavy-weights like Ryan Reaves, Mark Borowiecki, Zach Kassian and Radko Gudas, showing he’s not afraid of anyone.
Besides Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford, Toronto doesn’t really have anyone that’s willing to fight and Clifford is barely in the line-up. The Leafs don’t need to fight every night but they could use another player or two who’s not afraid to do it and spark the team when needed.
In the regular season, it doesn’t matter as much but when things get heated in a seven-game series, having Pezzetta jump over the boards and hit someone could be the spark that’s needed.
If the Leafs traded for Pezzetta and he played on the fourth-line beside Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds, it would be an “All-Toronto Line” as Pezzetta is a local-boy as well.
He’s not going to provide much offense, but his energy and willingness to fight could be something that really helps Toronto in a tough playoff match-up.