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Brad Treliving Putting His Stamp on Toronto Maple Leafs

By Jeremy Ridgewell

ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 18: Ryan Reaves #75 of the Minnesota Wild checks Matt Grzelcyk #48 of the Boston Bruins in the third period of the game at Xcel Energy Center on March 18, 2023 in St Paul, Minnesota. The Bruins defeated the Wild 5-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
ST PAUL, MN - MARCH 18: Ryan Reaves #75 of the Minnesota Wild checks Matt Grzelcyk #48 of the Boston Bruins in the third period of the game at Xcel Energy Center on March 18, 2023 in St Paul, Minnesota. The Bruins defeated the Wild 5-2. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs have allowed almost every unrestricted free agent from their roster to sign with other teams.

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving chose to re-sign David Kampf to a four-year deal with a $2.4 million annual cap hit and Pontus Holmberg to a two-year deal with an $800,000 annual cap hit.

UFAs leaving Toronto are Ryan O’Reilly, Michael Bunting, Alex Kerfoot, Noel Acciari, Justin Holl, Erik Gustafsson, Luke Schenn, Erik Kallgren, and Radim Zohorna. So far, Treliving has added Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg,Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi.

The Maple Leafs lost in the second round of the NHL playoffs due to a lack of scoring. Some of that was from the Florida Panthers having a hot goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky. However, adding secondary scoring is an area that needs addressing this off-season. So far, Toronto has done a decent job in that regard, now that Domi and Bertuzzi are aboard.

According to capfriendly.com, the Toronto Maple Leafs are already  over the NHL salary cap ($83.5 million) before accounting for possible LTIR players.

Treliving still has to re-sign goaltender Ilya Samsonov, so a trade seems inevitable. There is a possibility that Toronto uses the second buy-out window to buy out Matt Murray, but even that might not be enough.

Toronto Maple Leafs’New Guys

Ryan Reaves – RW

Ryan Reaves is coming to Toronto on a three-year deal with an annual cap hit of $1.35 million. Last season, Reaves registered five goals and ten assists for 15 points in 73 games. He is coming to Toronto to add a physical presence on the ice and a vocal leader in the locker room.

John Klingberg – LHD

John Klingberg signed a one-year deal with the Maple Leafs for $4.15 million. Although he is a defenseman, he will not be looked upon for his defense. Klingberg is strictly an offensive defenseman. He registered ten goals and 23 assists for 33 points in 67 games last season. After Morgan Rielly, Toronto didn’t get much offense from it’s defense last season. Klingberg will give Toronto another power-play option too.

Tyler Bertuzzi – LW

Tyler Bertuzzi comes to Toronto on a one-year deal worth $5.5 million with a no-movement clause. Bertuzzi is a good secondary scoring option for Toronto if he can stay healthy. Last season, he registered eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points in 50 games. The season before that (2021-22), Bertuzzi registered 30 goals and 32 assists for 62 points in 68 games. His feistiness will be a bonus.

Next. Top 10 Available NHL Free-Agents. dark

At the time of this writing, Elliotte Friedman from Sportsnet is reporting that the Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Max Domi are negotiating a deal to bring the center to Toronto. Domi registered 20 goals and 36 assists for 56 points in 80 games last season.

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