Toronto Maple Leafs: What Every NHL Team Did In Free-Agency
![Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during Game Two of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 4, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Florida Panthers during Game Two of the Second Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 4, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/5dc5086ea34116697ed235a0baad58c2a1ff67f64390df1947b4afe1c2924e59.jpg)
Boston Bruins
The President Trophy winning Boston Bruins are in a bit of a conundrum as they have not got confirmation yet from David Krejci or Patrice Bergeron on whether or not either are returning for another season.
For now, the Bruins signed several veterans for a million dollars, which included bringing back Milan Lucic who had played 566 games with the organization over eight seasons.
He has now creeping up to 1,100 career games and he isn’t the same type of player he was when he left back in 2015 but he can be a solid fourth line contributor.
The Bruins also added James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Shattenkirk to matching contracts that Lucic received.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Speaking of bringing someone back to the organization, the Toronto Maple Leafs bring back Max Domi. Okay, he comes back to the organization as a former son of a player, but he was around the organization as a kid.
Domi is joining his seventh team since 2018 which can cause some concerns, but he can be a key contributor. It looks like he’ll play primarily left wing and he can bring in some much needed secondary scoring. Domi scored 20-goals for the second time in his career last season and went on to collect 13 points in 19 playoff games.
The big addition was adding Tyler Bertuzzi in to the fold on a one-year deal worth $5.5 Million. Since the 2018-19 season, Bertuzzi has averaged 26-goals over an 82 game span. You can imagine that should go up playing in the Toronto Maple Leafs top six.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay enticement of getting players signing for less than their value appeared to end this off-season after they saw Alex Killorn leave for more money.
They tried to replace him with Connor Sheary who they signed for three-years at $2 Million per season. Sheary has not been able to replicate his breakout season he had in Pittsburgh back in 2016-17 when he scored 23 goals and 53 points in 61 games, but he has been able to carve out a solid NHL career. Sheary has been able to collect in the mid double digits since 2017 and has averaged 17-goals per 82 games.
The Lightning also add former 11th overall pick Logan Brown on a one-year deal at league minimum. The 6’6″ center has had trouble since turning pro and the now 25-year old is joining his third organization.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers were busy signing players that were recently bought out to cap friendly contracts. The big name was Oliver Ekman-Larsson who they signed to a one-year deal at $2.25 Million. OEL will be a huge upgrade on recently departed Marc Staal who signed with the Flyers. Larsson can still fill a role of a second pairing defenseman and the Panthers got a great deal.
The second player was defenseman Mike Rielly who the Boston Bruins bought out. Rielly spent the majority of 2022-23 season in the AHL and will be in tough to make the Panthers roster.
The big signing of the day though was forward Evan Rodrigues who they locked in at four-years and $3 Million per year. The undrafted Toronto native has collected 35-goals over the last two seasons and should fit the third line well in Florida.