Thanks to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, former Toronto Maple Leafs winger Michael Bunting signed a monster three-year deal worth $13.5M this offseason.
After only playing 26 NHL games prior to joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, Michael Bunting had two great season’s scoring 46 goals and registering 112 points in 161 games. He was reliable, only missing three games and added a different element to a roster, that for the most, was one dimensional.
We all know that the Leafs were built on speed and skill and Bunting’s opposite approach was a nice complement to Matthews and Marner, as he was all of a sudden a perfect replacement for Zach Hyman.
Speaking of Hyman, despite scoring 36 goals and contributing 83 points last year, I still think that Hyman is a replaceable/overpaid player, who’s been the beneficiary to playing alongside multiple Hart Trophy winners over his career.
I know this didn’t work out with Nick Ritchie when he joined the Leafs, but for the most part, you can put almost any decent, hard-working player, on a line with the likes of Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Leon Draisaitl and they can become a 20-goal scorer.
Player’s like Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz benefited from this for years playing with Sidney Crosby and the same can be applied in Toronto and Edmonton with Hyman and Bunting.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Michael Bunting Will Fade into Obscurity
It does not matter if the Leafs have Bunting, Tyler Bertuzzi or Matthew Knies on the first-line this year. Their Stanley Cup results will not change, as all three of those players are somewhat similar and are not difference-makers.
The difference-makers are Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and if those players play to their best capabilities, the team should win. If Bunting has the game of his lifetime, Toronto’s chances of winning and losing barely change.
Based on his contributions over the past two seasons, another team was going to overpay Bunting and I’m glad the Leafs didn’t. However, they screwed up by giving $5.5M to Tyler Bertuzzi when they should have put that money towards the blue-line or depth.
When you have almost half of your salary-cap dedicated towards four forwards, you can’t afford to pay another winger $5.5M. It’s the main reason why the Leafs originally walked away from Zach Hyman and then walked away from Bunting.
With almost $17M in cap-space, the Leafs could have been very creative, but instead, wrote a cheque to Bertuzzi for $5.5M, when that’s not what they needed. Bertuzzi is a great player and will shine in Toronto, but he only helps your Fantasy Hockey Team and isn’t the piece to get this team over the edge.
In order for the Leafs top-line to be effective, all they’ve needed is a workhorse beside Matthews and Marner. We’ve seen that over the years with Bunting and Hyman, so why wouldn’t the Leafs keep that system alive and find a player for league-minimum to do the same?
He makes a little bit more than league-minimum right now ($2M), but someone like Marcus Johansson would have been a perfect replacement for Bunting. Even someone like Bobby McMann, who’s already under contract for $762K could have jumped in and scored 15-20 goals beside Matthews and Marner.
If Bertuzzi scores 35 goals next year, it’s a nice story that will fetch him a ton of money on the open market in 2024, but it doesn’t make Toronto better. They already have a player who’s scored 60 goals, two players who have scored 40 goals and another who’s scored 30 goals, so their goal-scoring ability is fine..
I know that scoring goals wins hockey games, but the top-line only plays one-third of the game. This team needs players who can score for that other two-thirds of ice-time, as we’ve continued to see the Leafs get burned over the last few seasons because of their lack of depth in the bottom-six.
The $4.5M saved could have helped the Leafs acquire a third-line winger or even a physical defenseman, but instead, they spent unwisely.
The longer I look at this roster, the more I hate the way they spent their money and I want Treliving fired. It pains me to say this, but I can already predict the future, where I see the Leafs outscoring their opponents all throughout the regular season, before their lack of depth burns them in the playoffs.
So back to my original point.
Although Bunting is a good player, he won’t be missed on this roster and the Toronto Maple Leafs should have went out and found a league-minimum player with a lot of heart, instead of a flashy player like Bertuzzi.