While everybody is talking and thinking about the draft, other urgent matters remain for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Free agency is fast approaching, and unless general manager Brad Treliving manages to pull off a miracle, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi could be on their way out of Toronto. What’s been happening in each case? Read on to find out.
Max Domi Wants to Stay
The homegrown player had a good season in Toronto, which proved to be a determinant factor in the playoffs. Playing with big guns like Auston Matthews for instance, he can keep up with him and efficiently complete him.
He played 80 games in the regular season, and after a slow start, he scored 47 points. He finished the year with a plus-10 rating and 118 penalty minutes. In the playoffs, he played all seven games, gathering four points.
While he only spent an average of 13:47 seconds of ice time in the regular season, his playing time jumped to 16:57 in the playoffs. In the regular season, he had a 50% success rate in the faceoff department while winning 66.7 % of his duels in the postseason.
Unsurprisingly, Domi performs better when he gets more ice time. In his career year with the Montreal Canadiens, he got 72 points, averaging 17:22 of ice time. The center was always clear about loving Toronto and wanting to stay. So, too, was Treliving about liking the player and wanting to keep him.
Those are just words, however, and it’s time for the Maple Leafs to put their money where their mouth is. Domi reportedly wants a contract paying him four million per season for four years, as reported by Elliotte Friedman in the latest “32 Thoughts Podcast”.
Domi is 29 and will be 33 by the time the contract expires. Judging by his previous season, it’s hard to think he could be aching and breaking down by then; he has suffered few injuries. As for the price tag, I can see a lot of teams ready to give him that in free agency. The question is, would he have the same asking price for other teams, or is that a hometown discount?
The asking price seems fair to me, and I believe Treliving would do well to sign him. Surely, they do not want a second Zach Hyman out there…the ball is in the GM’s hands. Will he hit an ace or serve it out of bounds? We’ll soon find out.
Tyler Bertuzzi Wants His Pay
Bertuzzi might very well be gone, even though at the end of the season, in media availability, the forward said:
That’s definitely something I’m open to. I really enjoyed myself this year. Coming into a new place, especially Toronto, it’s not easy. It took me a little bit on the ice to get going. But off the ice, the guys were great. Everything was top-notch. Me and my family really enjoyed our time here.
The clock is ticking, and overtime will be needed to come to a deal. On Sportsnet 590, The Fan, Elliotte Friedman mentioned:
I saw some reports that Bertuzzi might be gone, we’ll see. I’ve kind of heard similar but I’ve learned this year that what’s true now might not be true in five minutes.
Related: Maple Leafs May Have to Pick Between Domi & Bertuzzi…Who Stays?
Vincent Z. Mercogliano from Iohud, part of the USA Today Network, wrote that New York Rangers could be interested in Bertuzzi. There have also been rumblings that Montreal Canadiens’ GM Kent Hughes could be very active in free agency. Adding a player like the winger would certainly make the Canadiens more challenging to play against.
I have not heard any insider say anything about Bertuzzi’s asking price. However, Jesse Courville-Lynch from the Hockey Writers attempted to predict what his contract should be. He believes the pending free agent should earn as much as Max Domi but that on the free market, he could potentially earn north of $5 million. That’s probably true, and if that’s the case, I expect him to test the market.
I honestly believe the Maple Leafs won’t be able to retain Bertuzzi. Domi is different; he’s a second-generation Leaf and desperate to stay in town. Free agency should always come with a warning, so many teams overspend on the day only to end up in buyouts with long-term cap issues. The saying better the devil, you know, should be thought about a bit more, really. Domi’s reported asking price is quite reasonable, so keeping him, a guy who wants to be in Toronto would be a great move.
In any case, we’ll know soon enough if Treliving has managed to retain at least one of his pending free agents. Come Monday at noon, though, prepare for the free agency frenzy. I hope your team’s GM keeps their head straight on.
