Alex Kerfoot never ruled out a return to the Maple Leafs but it became clear his time was up and he had to move on.

When his regular season came to an end, Alex Kerfoot knew his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs could be over.

On Saturday, he was an unrestricted free agent for a few hours before signing a two-year, $7 million contract with the Arizona Coyotes.

There were rumblings that Kerfoot and the Maple Leafs were still talking about a return and the 28-year-old confirmed that he was still open to returning to Toronto up until the point he signed on for the desert.

"In my mind, I wanted to still have conversations," Kerfoot told reporters on Sunday during his introductory news conference. "I’ve got a lot of respect for a lot of people in that organization. But things don’t always work out."

Pressed against a tight salary cap, the Maple Leafs had 10 pending unrestricted free agents as of last week. When the calendar turned to July, Toronto kept one of them, signing David Kampf to a four-year, $9.6 million contract.

It was pretty clear that Toronto wanted to go in a bit of a different direction. The general manager that brought Kerfoot to Toronto — Kyle Dubas — was relieved of his duties in May and Brad Treliving was hired as his replacement a couple of weeks later. 

The players Treliving has brought in have a bit of a different feel, particularly at the forward position.

Ryan Reaves is an intimidating presence that might make the opposition think twice about taking a cheap shot at one of the Maple Leaf.

On Sunday, the Leafs added Tyler Bertuzzi, a play-making winger who plays with an edge. Max Domi, who is expected to finalize his one-year, $3 million contract on Monday, has a little bit of edge in him as well, but can also contribute offensively.

Is it enough to replace what the Leafs lost? That remains to be seen. But Kerfoot's versatility, which will be appreciated in Arizona, perhaps ran its course when the forward just wasn't putting up the same numbers as he had in previous seasons.

Kerfoot had 10 goals and 22 assists in 82 games last season and bounced around all four lines. He talked openly about not producing offensively in the way he would have liked and that might have caused him to overthink things a little bit.

"I tried to not let it affect my game in other ways," he said. "I think I've become a more responsible defensive player but I do still think there's room for growth in my offensive game and that's something I've been working on this summer."

Acquired by the Maple Leafs on July 1, 2019, in a trade that also brought defenseman Tyson Barrie to Toronto in exchange for forward Nazem Kadri and defenseman Calle Rosen, Kerfoot scored 40 goals and had 94 assists in 285 games over four seasons with the Leafs. 

"I loved my time in Toronto, but with where I am right now I’m looking forward to this new chapter with Arizona," Kerfoot said.

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