Have the Maple Leafs Key Offseason Signings Been Huge Busts?

As we pass the halfway mark of the 2023-24 NHL season, let’s take a look back at some of the Toronto Maple Leafs big moves during the past offseason and see how they have been performing to date.

Back in the summer, many of the Toronto Maple Leafs faithful were highly anticipating for an impactful and exciting season for the team as they signed big name free agents Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, John Klingberg and Ryan Reaves. But have they been difference makers for the team so far this season, or are they turning out to be huge busts?

Starting with Klingberg, he is already done for the year as he had season-ending hip surgery more than a month ago. On the season, he managed just a measly 5 assists in 14 games played. For someone that was brought in to improve the Leafs offence from the back end and to quarterback their potent power play, his short-lived season turned out to be quite the disappointment nonetheless.

For Reaves, he was signed to help improve the toughness of the team, along with protecting their star players while providing good defensive checking minutes when on the ice.

However, he has yet to make the impact that was expected of him. To make matters worse, the Leafs have been outscored 14-3 at 5-on-5 whenever Reaves is on the ice during his limited playing time. On top of that, he has just two points in 22 games this season to show for.

Have the Maple Leafs Key Offseason Signings Been Huge Busts?

When it comes to Bertuzzi, he was believed to be the perfect complement to any of the top two lines with his forechecking and grind work. However, he has failed to take off like his former predecessors in Zach Hyman and Michael Bunting, as he has compiled just 6 goals and 14 assists for 20 points over 46 games of action, including just 2 assists and 12 shots on goal in his last nine games.

To be fair to Bertuzzi, however, unlike the rest of the summer signings, his underlying numbers are excellent.

Finally for Domi, one would believe he could take off in an environment where he wasn’t counted on heavily to carry the team, along with having some solid linemates that know how to put the puck in the net. Unfortunately, he hasn’t met his lofty expectations yet as well as he has put up just 4 goals and 20 assists for just 24 points in 47 games played, and has only two points in his last 12 games. He is currently on pace to set his career low in goals in a season. (All stats from naturalstattrick.com and hockeydb.com).

While Noah Gregor has played in a lot of games, his numbers are nearly as bad as Ryan Reaves.

On the good side, at least the signings of both Simon Benoit and Martin Jones (at least for a month or so) have provided the team with some value so far, especially for Jones in keeping the Leafs within striking distance when their starting goalie tandem when down for different reasons.

As for the Leafs four key additions mentioned above, they sure have been quite underwhelming so far this season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had nealry $20 million to sign player with last summer, and they used it on four free-agents and David Kampf, and right now it seems like they couldn't have possibly spent that money any worse than then they did.