Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Carl Dahlstrom continues to recover from shoulder surgery he had in October. According to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, the Toronto Maple Leafs have "touched base" with pending unrestricted free agent Michael Bunting about what a new contract with the team would look like. "Hearing that the Leafs this week have touched based [sic] with Michael Bunting's camp, a very, very preliminary chat about the pending UFA and next contract," LeBrun tweeted on Tuesday. "Nothing concrete yet. Unclear where this goes at this point." The 27-year-old Bunting is a pending unrestricted free agent. After shaking out of some early-season struggles, the Scarborough native has fit in well only a newly-shaped first line that includes familiar linemate Auston Matthews. William Nylander is a new linemate for Bunting. This isn't the first time talk between the Bunting and the Maple Leafs began to hit the news cycle regarding a new contract. Before the season began, LeBrun mused about the possibility of Bunting signing an eight-year contract on a segment of TSN's Insider Trading [https://www.tsn.ca/insider-trading-patrick-kane-david-pastrnak-michael-bunting-ian-cole-1.1861085]. While he refused to comment on the report, Bunting did speak on the morning of the season opener that he'd be open to discussing a new contract mid-season. “I am fine (with that),” Bunting said on Oct. 12. “I kind of don’t really want to know a lot (about what’s going on). I just want to play and all of that will happen later on.” Bunting took a hometown discount when he committed to the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2021. It’s unclear if he would do it again, but he expressed his joy in playing for his team. “I’m a Toronto boy, I love playing for the Maple Leafs,” he said in October. “It’s so much fun putting on that sweater every single night and that’s what I will say about it hopefully everything else figures itself out.” Bunting has 11 goals and 25 points in 33 games heading into Toronto's game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday. He finished December with seven goals and 11 points in 12 games. Figuring out a number may be a bit complicated. The NHL salary cap could go up anywhere from $1 to $4.5 million depending on where revenues fall at the end of the 2022-23 season. Bunting is one of several pending unrestricted free agents and the Leafs have just 13 contracts committed at a salary cap hit of just under $70 million, according to Puckpedia.com [https://puckpedia.com/team/toronto-maple-leafs].
