Maple Leafs Sign Enforcer and Toronto Native Michael Pezzetta

Rumoured to have had interest in addressing their bottom-6 with tougher, meaner players, the Toronto Maple Leafs started off their free agent frenzy with a bang as they signed former Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Pezzetta to a 2-year deal worth $787.5K per season.

Pezzetta is an old-school player who packs a punch and provides his team with physicality and energy above all else. Over his career, he's suited up in 200 games for the Canadiens across 4 seasons, where he's accumulated 241 PIMs and 710 hits.

This past season, Pezzetta was more of a healthy scratch than anything else with the Canadiens employing a more skill-based lineup and using their youth on all 4 lines, but in the 25 games he did play in, he added 24 PIMs and 73 hits.

However, when he was used more often in the previous 3 seasons, Pezzetta scored 15 goals and 38 points to go along with 217 PIMs and 637 hits in just 175 games.

Pezzetta will provide head coach Craig Berube with exactly the type of player he is looking for to fill in the bottom-6. Alongside Steven Lorentz and Scott Laughton, the Maple Leafs will be a tough team to play against and break down.

With Pezzetta in the fold, the Maple Leafs still have $5,008,081 million to play with to address further roster needs. They also have several expendable contracts, including that of Ryan Reaves, as the younger Pezzetta appears to be a direct replacement for the veteran enforcer.