Bertuzzi is coming off a one-year with Toronto that paid him $5.5 million per season.
Bertuzzi is coming off a one-year with Toronto that paid him $5.5 million per season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs don't appear to be any closer to a deal with pending unrestricted free agent forward Tyler Bertuzzi.
“We’ve had productive talks, but the player realizes that there are other areas for the team to address," Bertuzzi's agent, told the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan. "We’ll see where it goes.”
Bertuzzi just finished up his one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Maple Leafs in which he scored 21 goals and added 22 assists in 80 games with Toronto. After getting off to e a bit of a slow start to the season, he eventually settled into the top-line left-winger spot the Leafs had envisioned for him, playing on the left side of Auston Matthews for the duration of their first-round playoff series loss to the Boston Bruins.
But as Reynolds intimated to Koshan, the Leafs do have other issues they need to address.
With under $20 million in cap space, the Leafs reportedly want to add a couple of defensemen that could eat into much of that space.
There is also the matter of adding another goaltender to play alongside Joseph Woll. If they acquire an established 1A, that could costs upwards of $5 million or more. Of course, some of that could be offset by what goes back in a trade.
Of course, the future of Mitch Marner could be a wild card in all of this. Although the latest reports have the forward not budging from his no-move clause if he were to somehow come off the books to address another need, that might open up the room for someone like Bertuzzi.
Market for Bertuzzi
AFP Analytics has a contract projection of $5,291,440 X four years for Bertuzzi, which represents a modest decrease in the player's salary cap hit from last season. It's believed Bertuzzi was looking for term before signing with Toronto last season, but a flat salary cap in 2023-24 made it difficult for the player to land a good number.
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