Instant Reaction: Michael Pezzetta’s 2-year deal is the Leafs’ first puzzling move this offseason

Michael Pezzetta is joining the Toronto Maple Leafs on a two-year contract worth $788,000 annually, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

It’s the first puzzling move of the offseason by Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, who is operating with the mandate of changing the team’s internal makeup. Matthew Knies and John Tavares signed team-friendly deals, while the Maple Leafs received Nicolas Roy in return for Mitch Marner, who promptly signed an eight-year contract worth $12 million annually with the Vegas Golden Knights. Treliving also did well to acquire Matias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in 2027. It’s the summer of Brad!

We don’t see the vision here, to put it lightly. Pezzetta did not record a single point in 25 regular season games with the Montreal Canadiens last season, coming off a 2023-24 campaign where he posted three goals and 12 points in 61 games. While the goal of the bottom-six to augment the Leafs’ top-six forwards, Toronto struggled with depth scoring throughout the regular season and aside from Max Pacioretty, received minimal offensive contributions outside of its previous Core Four and Matthew Knies.

Is there an analytics-based case for Pezzetta, in the absence of any real offensive production? In a limited sample of 148:10 played at 5-on-5, the Canadiens boasted a 59 percent share of the expected goals via Natural Stat Trick. Among all 768 players with over 100 minutes played at 5-on-5, Pezzetta faced 1.68 goals against per 60, the sixth-best total in the NHL. Perhaps the Maple Leafs figured there’s some real defensive value to be found on the fourth line, but with Steven Lorentz already returning on a three-year deal, and Scott Laughton perhaps pencilled in as the fourth-line centre, the glaring lack of production is striking.

It’s a somewhat puzzling deal, but perhaps a hometown reunion for Pezzetta will inspire better production. At any rate, the contract is manageable, but you had to figure the Leafs bought into his defensive metrics over his complete lack of scoring touch.