Should The Toronto Maple Leafs Re-Sign Michael Bunting?

Mats Zuccarello, 2015

In 2015 at the age of 27, the New York Rangers signed Mats Zuccarello to a four-year contract worth $4.5 million per season.

At the time that accounted for 6.52% of the cap. His career up to that point was very similar to Bunting’s. Both players didn’t become regular NHLers until the age of 26 and both took off immediately.

In his first two full NHL seasons, Zuccarello produced 108 points in 155 games for a 0.70 PPG, the exact same as Bunting.

Conveniently, this is also around when Zuccarello signed his comparable deal. The only difference being his contract extension came mid-season on March 2nd, 2015. (cap info capfriendly.com).

Jonathan Marchessault, 2018

Just like Zuccarello and Bunting, Marchessault did not make the NHL full-time until he was 26 years of age.

Also like the other two, he broke out onto the scene in his first two NHL seasons before signing this comparable deal. In those two seasons, he played in 152 games, scoring 126 points for a 0.83 PPG.

However, due to his deal being signed in January of 2018, he had actually only played 110 games and produced 88 points for a 0.8 PPG.

The deal he signed was for six years at $5 million AAV. At the time, it worked out to 6.67% of the salary cap. (stats hockeydb.com).

Alex Iafallo, 2021

Iafallo is a different case from Bunting or the other two previously mentioned players. He went straight from the NCAA to the NHL on a full-time basis at the age of 23.

After the expiration of his two-year ELC, he signed a two-year bridge deal at $2.425 million per season. By the time he signed his current deal (four years and $4 million AAV 4.91% cap hit) he was 27 years old and had played 266 games and produced 126 points.

However, he really broke out offensively after his first season. Taking away that first season, in the time preceding his deal, he played in 191 games and scored 101 points.

This gives him a points per game of 0.53. Much lower than the previous two examples or Bunting himself. This to me, puts his deal at the floor of what Bunting could ask for on his next contract.

So, this puts the Michael Bunting contract likely between 4.9% and 6.7% of the salary cap. At an $83.5 million salary cap ceiling, that would give him an AAV of $4.091 million and $5.594 million.

One other thing to keep in mind with these deals is that they are all extensions and they all come mid-season. Given we are less than a month out from July 1st, it’s very possible that Bunting tests the open market. This could possibly inflate his contract due to a bidding war and the leverage of walking away.