After signing a PTO with the Toronto Maple Leafs in early September for training camp, forward Noah Gregor has earned a contract with the club for the upcoming 2023-24 NHL season after his stellar play during the preseason.
Today, they signed Noah Gregor to a one-year, $775K contract for the 2023-24 campaign, according to Chris Johnston of TSN and SDPN Sports.
The 25-year-old, coming off a solid year with the Sharks last season, will be primarily in a fourth-line and penalty-kill role with the Maple Leafs this coming season and could maybe work his way up to the third-line in some scenarios if Sheldon Keefe wants to tinker with the bottom-six.
His speed, tenacity, ability to chip in some offence, and willingness to not shy away from the physical part of the game will be a much-needed addition to this team’s bottom six on such a cheap cap hit.
Last season, in 57 games with the Sharks, Gregor potted home 10 goals and added seven assists for 17 points while only averaging 12:58 of ice time. On top of that, he registered 97 hits in those 57 games. Over an 82-game pace, that would’ve been 140 hits.
Gregor brings much-needed physicality to the bottom six after the team lost guys like Zach Aston-Reese and Noel Acciari in free agency, as well as trading Sam Lafferty to the Vancouver Cancuks a couple of days ago to free up his $1.15M cap hit.
A player like him making $775K against the cap for what he can bring to a team is a tremendous deal for Toronto, in my opinion.
According to the lines at Maple Leafs practice today and throughout training camp, Gregor, as I said, will be on the fourth line, but his linemates will be David Kampf and Ryan Reaves.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in action tomorrow night at home when they host the Montreal Canadiens to open their season. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT on Sportsnet.
More must-reads: