Maple Leafs Could Reportedly Swipe Big, Mean Forward From Division Rival in Free Agency

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to enter July's free agent frenzy with a bit of a chip on their shoulder after Mitch Marner departs, despite being able to extend both John Tavares and Matthew Knies to relatively team-friendly contracts.

With the most important tasks checked off, the Maple Leafs can fully focus all of their attention towards free agency and address the rest of their team needs with $10M+ in cap space available.

While Brad Marchand is going to be at the top of their list, should he reach free agency, the Maple Leafs might have other interests that could surprise the fan base, including forward Michael Pezzetta from the Montreal Canadiens.

The 27-year-old left-winger is a tough character to play against and packs a real punch when he's given an opportunity to suit up. He managed only 25 games this season for the Canadiens but finished with 24 PIMs and 73 hits in just 5:56 ATOI.

He's not going to blow you away with his scoring abilities as evidenced by his 15 goals and 38 points across parts of 4 seasons in 200 games but he's tough to play against and would be the perfect player to change the DNA of the team.

Across his first 3 seasons in the league, Pezzetta totalled 217 PIMs, 637 hits, and even added 15 goals, while playing a key fourth line role for Montreal. However, this season, he found himself in the press box a little too often with the Canadiens employing a more skill-based lineup.

The Toronto native won't be the prize of July's free agent market, but he's the type of addition that will help the team in the long-run and add a sandpaper-type element on the fourth line.