Maple Leafs Recall Michael Pezzetta

The Maple Leafs announced this morning that they’ve recalled winger Michael Pezzetta from AHL Toronto. With no pressing injuries, he counts as their second of five allotted post-deadline standard recalls, following the team’s recall of Benoit-Olivier Groulx on Tuesday.

Pezzetta, a day ahead of his 28th birthday, hasn’t played in the NHL since the end of last season. The Maple Leafs signed him to a two-year contract as an unrestricted free agent last July, but he was placed on waivers during training camp and didn’t make the opening night roster. He signed a one-way deal for the league-minimum salary each year, giving him a $812.5K cap hit and a full $775K paycheck this season despite not seeing any time on the NHL roster until March.

In 37 games for the Marlies this year, Pezzetta has put up four goals and 10 points with a -7 rating and 52 penalty minutes. His workload is limited by design, as he counts toward the AHL’s veteran maximum and is one of the purest enforcers/grinders in the game. In fact, his 0.27 points per game this season is a career high in both the NHL and the AHL, his six points in just eight AHL games back in 2021-22 notwithstanding.

Selected by the Canadiens in the sixth round back in 2016, Pezzetta will play in his fifth straight NHL season if he gets into a game (which it looks like he will tonight against the Ducks, per Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun). He’s totaled 200 games, all with Montreal, with a 15-23–38 scoring line, a -9 rating, and an average of 8:03 of ice time per game.