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After seeing most of the club’s unrestricted free agents heading out of town for good paydays, the Toronto Maple Leafs made the biggest splash on the second day of free agency, signing wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi to one-year deals.
Other than Boston Bruins teammate Dmitri Orlov, the 28-year-old Bertuzzi was the biggest catch on the open market, and the expectation was that the former Red Wing was going to fetch upwards of $6 million per season on a multi-year deal, but the signing with Toronto is strategic.
Bertuzzi’s deal is mostly signing bonus ($4.725 million) with a low base salary of $775,000 and contains a no-movement clause, giving the forward complete control of his destination if he were to be shopped by the Leafs before the deadline. The deal makes sense from the Bertuzzi side since he will again hit the open market next summer with the salary cap going up as much as $4 million, giving him better odds of a bigger payday.
The deal also provides Toronto some flexibility to offer Bertuzzi an eight-year deal after January 1, similar to what Carolina did with Jesperi Kotkaniemi after he signed a one-year offer sheet deal with the Hurricanes.
Domi, 28, had his best offensive year since scoring 72 points with Montreal in 2019 with the Blackhawks and Stars last season (20 goals, 36 assists) and was a significant contributor to Dallas’s run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 13 points in 19 games. Reports from Chris Johnston and Elliotte Friedman indicate that the one-year deal will be for $3 million.
These moves replenish the Leafs top six with the departures of Michael Bunting and Ryan O’Reilly and give GM Brad Treliving some flexibility for the summer. Domi played primarily left wing after being acquired by the Stars and could slot in on the left side with either Auston Matthews or John Tavares. Bertuzzi played both the left and right side in Detroit, giving Sheldon Keefe the option to play him on the top-line left wing with Matthews and Mitch Marner or on the right side.
The signings also have to be considered a strong signal that William Nylander’s days as a Leaf are numbered.
Coming out of Nashville, the chatter was that the Leafs and the winger’s camp were far apart on a new deal, as much as $1 million per season. With the signings, the Leafs are over the $83.5 million salary cap, which they can be over the summer. They have moves that can be made (such as the buyout of Matt Murray), but that likely will be taken up by the new deal for Ilya Samsonov.
Jake Muzzin’s deal can be placed on LTIR at the start of the season, but Toronto has two or three roster holes that need to be filled. Moving out Nylander could fill some of those holes or create the cap space to fill them. Either way, keeping the 40-goal scorer with an expiring contract and risking getting nothing for him if he walks in free agency like Johnny Gaudreau did in Calgary is not something that Treliving can allow to happen.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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