Toronto Maple Leafs: Checking In on Ex-Leafs Around the NHL

The Toronto Maple Leafs will begin the new NHL season this week when the annual Prospect Tournament gets underway.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now less than two weeks away from their first pre-season game   which comes on September 24 against the Ottawa Senators.

The Leafs had an eventful offseason: They fired Kyle Dubas, hired Brad Treliving, had a more or less uneventful draft, spent about $20 million in free-agency, took their starting goalie to arbitration, and signed their franchise player to a contract extension.

They also placed Matt Murray on the long-term injured reserve and re-signed coach Sheldon Keefe to a contract extension.

The Leafs may have made a lot of changes, but other than a new GM, most of them were superficial, and the team is once again “running it back” with pretty much the same main players and a different supporting cast.

Leafs fans should be used to this by now, as in each of the last several seasons the Toronto Maple Leafs have swapped out a large majority of the bottom of their lineup.

Many new faces will come to training camp including Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi and John Klingberg, but if you missed part of the summer you may have missed where some of the Former Leafs will find themselves this season.

In the following article, I’ll take you through each now ex-Leafs new home.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Checking In on Ex-Leafs Around the NHL

Michael Bunting – Carolina Hurricanes (3 years, $4.5M AAV) 
It will be hard to find a player outside of an Entry Level Contract that was making under $1 Million the last two years that had better value that Michael Bunting.  The Scarborough native signed with Toronto on July 28, 2021 for just $950,000 per season and the agitating forward recorded back-to-back 23-goal seasons.

Michael Bunting Always Gave Everything As a Maple Leaf

Like many support players over the years, Bunting priced himself out of Toronto and earned him a three-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes with an annual average salary of $4.5 Million per season.  Bunting also received a $3 Million signing bonus ( all info capfriendly)  in his first season and a ten team no trade clause for the first two years of the contract.

Alex Kerfoot – Arizona Coyotes (2 years, $3.5M AAV)
Had he just played a depth role making fourth line money, Alex Kerfoot likely would have been a cult leader in Toronto, the problem was he was traded for Nazem Kadri and then immediately signed a four year deal worth $3.5 Million a season.  Kerfoot was a player that worked hard, but not smart, so the effort was always there just not the results.

Over the span of four seasons, Kerfoot would score just 40-goals while getting substantial time playing with the top players.  Add in that he scored just four goals in five playoff series and Kerfoot was the subject of a lot of negative spotlight.

Despite not producing in Toronto, Kerfoot got two more years at the same $3.5M annual salary, but this time with the Arizona Coyotes that included a ten team no trade clause in both years.

Ryan O’Reilly – Nashville Predators (4 years, $4.5 AAV)
Likely the best trade deadline acquisition that Kyle Dubas completed while the general manager of the Maple Leafs, Ryan O’Reilly exceeded expectations when he arrived late last season.  The former Conn Smythe trophy winner recorded 11-points in 13 regular season games and despite coming back from a broken finger he fought through in the playoffs he scored some big goals.  Twice ROR tied playoff games, including with a minute left in Game 3 of the Tampa Bay series to force overtime that led to the Maple Leafs taking a 2-1 series lead.

Their were rumblings that Toronto tried to bring O’Reilly back to the city, but he wanted to head to a quieter hockey town.  ROR signed on with the Nashville Predators for four years for $18 Million, but the deal did not include any type trade clause or signing bonuses which is likely something that the Maple Leafs could have offered.

Jordie Benn – Dallas Stars (PTO)
Midway through July last summer, Jordie Benn signed a league minimum one-way deal with the Maple Leafs.  He was expected to be a depth piece playing out the season with the Toronto Marlies.

Benn had a different idea, after being injured in training camp the journeyman defenseman returned in late October to the Maple Leafs and looked like a solid physical depth defenseman on the team.  He even recorded a goal in his first game in a Maple Leafs jersey, then added an assist in his second contest.

Unfortunately, injuries derailed his season and as the season went on he just kept sliding down the depth chart and did not get into another NHL game once the calendar turned to February finishing the season with the Marlies.

Benn recently signed a professional tryout with the Dallas Stars to see if he can prolong his NHL career with the team that he started with.

Zach Aston-Reese – Free Agent
Going into the 2022-23 training camp, Zach Aston-Reese joined the Maple Leafs on a professional tryout and he ended up earning a contract for the season.  ZAR proved to be a dependable fourth line winger leading the team in hits and had a career high ten goals.

The Staten Island native even got into six of the Toronto Maple Leafs playoff games recording one goal.

I would have expected Aston-Reese to get an NHL contract this time around as he plays a good depth role, but ZAR has not be able to get an offer from any team at this point and is currently a free agent.

Wayne Simmonds – Free Agent
The Toronto Maple Leafs brought Wayne Simmonds into the organization shortly before the 2020-21 season on a one-year $1.5M deal.  While he had his moments at the start of the season including scoring five goals in a six game stretch, it was evident that his prime years were well behind him as he scored just two goals in the other 32 games.

There must have been something Dubas loved as he signed Simmonds for an additional two seasons, but at a much lower $950,000 per season.  Unfortunately, no matter how much Simmonds bled blue, the game was just to fast for him.

This past season, Simmonds dressed for just 18 games and recorded just two points.  He has not signed a contract with anyone and my guess was that he was going to retire and join the franchise in some sort of coaching role.