Failing to Re-Sign Tyler Bertuzzi + Signing Max Domi
A $5.5 contract for Bertuzzi until age 35 isn't really that much. I was concerned the Leafs were going to give Bertuzzi $7 million x 6 and I thought that would be horrible.
However, he ended up getting a very small raise, and compared to what they paid Max Domi I would say this is a huge miscalculation. I would be fine letting them both go if the team went with one star player who made around $8 million, but if you're keeping one, keep Bertuzzi.
Domi is a one-dimensional, pass-only forward who isn't a good 3C and isn't a good top-six winger. If Domi is your permanent solution to playing on Auston Matthews wing, you've made a very bad decision.
Domi is 30 and I wouldn't have minded him at $3 million or less. Ideally less.
He's basically the NHL's most overrated player when you compare how much he's talked about vs his overall stat profile, which rates him as a replacement player.
I would have much rather paid extra for Bertuzzi and let Domi walk. The thought of having Matthew Knies and Tyler Bertuzzi on the left side for half a game in their primes was very exciting.
The thought of Bobby McMann playing top six minutes and Max Domi making Craig Berube's job so much harder than it has to be? Not so much.
Domi was a bad signing, but he does make them deep. I would have given his deal a C+ but comined with also losing Bertuzzi, which makes the team worse, I give it a