Report: Maple Leafs Forward Tyler Bertuzzi Expected to Sign Four-Year, $22 Million Contract with Chicago Blackhawks in NHL Free Agency
It was announced Sunday evening that Bertuzzi would be hitting the open market after one season with the Maple Leafs.
July 1 is officially here.
The first domino to fall for the Toronto Maple Leafs is forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who signed a one-year, $5.5 million contract with the organization in July of 2023.
Hours before it is set to become official, TSN’s Darren Dreger confirmed David Pagnotta's report that Bertuzzi will sign in the Western Conference with the Chicago Blackhawks. The deal is expected to be a four-year, $22 million contract, carrying an average annual value of $5.5 million per season.
As Dreger identifies, Bertuzzi was willing to be flexible with the Leafs to potentially work out a deal that benefited both sides, in relation to price and term. However, the bargain with the Blackhawks turned out to be too sweet to turn down. With the salary cap seeing its first substantial increase since the COVID-19 pandemic, Bertuzzi was projected to get a four-year, $21.16 million contract carrying an AAV of $5.29 million according to AFP Analytics – and that looks to be similar to what he’ll get on the open market.
After the Leafs re-signed pending free agent Max Domi Sunday to a new multi-year contract and the anticipation building around signing defenseman Chris Tanev, the idea of Bertuzzi staying in Toronto dwindled significantly.
The Maple Leafs themselves were interested in bringing back the 29-year-old, as was Bertuzzi. On locker clean-out day, he stated, "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."
In his lone season with the club, Bertuzzi had 21 goals and 22 assists with the Leafs last season. He also had a goal and three assists in seven playoff games.
The loss of Bertuzzi will leave a hole for the Leafs to fill throughout free agency, another area to address and addition to the to-do list for general manager Brad Treliving. With plenty of hoops to jump through, the Leafs are set to have $12,955,333 left to spend under the $88 million salary cap according to PuckPedia.com.
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