Two years ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs were looking for the perfect linemate to go with the dynamic duo of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. In the end, they decided to take a chance on free agent Nick Ritchie, who was coming off a career-high 15 goal season in 2020-21 with the Boston Bruins.
The Toronto Maple Leafs believed that with the big body and grinding style of play of Ritchie, it would help complement their top line to its full effectiveness. Unfortunately, Ritchie would struggle mightily in that role as the third wheel, managing only two goals and seven assists in 33 games played.
In the end, Ritchie was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes along with a conditional draft pick in exchange for defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and forward Ryan Dzingel. Surprisingly, Ritchie would end up flourishing with the Coyotes, with 10 goals in just 24 games, while Lyubushkin would end up playing way too high in the lineup and probably hurting the Leafs.
Fast forward now to 2023, with the departure of Michael Bunting, the Leafs quickly turned to Tyler Bertuzzi in free agency as the potential answer for the vacated spot on the top line with Matthews and Marner. It was always going to be impossible for Bertuzzi to bring the same value as Bunting brought while being paid 5 x less money, but so one point in five games playing top minutes isn’t good at all.
Toronto Maple Leafs: Tyler Bertuzzi is Starting to Look Like the Second Coming of Nick Ritchie
However, almost two weeks now into the 2023-24 season, Bertuzzi is beginning to look more and more like the Nick Ritchie experiment all over again.
Similar to Ritchie, Bertuzzi was coming off a strong two-month stint with the Bruins after he was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings just prior to the trade deadline.
He finished with four goals and 12 assists in 21 games during the regular season and was perhaps the Bruins’ best player in the playoffs with five goals and five assists in seven games before being shockingly eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the first round.
After joining the Toronto Maple Leafs on a one-year, $5.5 million contract this past offseason, he was looking forward to having a huge impact on the Leafs top line with Matthews and Marner. But so far, the sort of impact has definitely been there, but more in a negative way with five minor penalties in five games, along with only one goal to show for off a blatant giveaway by the opposing team.
It may be early, but the chemistry between Bertuzzi and the dynamic duo seems a bit lacking, as he often looked a bit lost on the ice whenever he is out there with the two superstars.
Perhaps he is still getting himself comfortable with his new team and their style of play, but he will certainly need to step it up soon before someone like an energetic, grinding, goal-hungry Matthews Knies usurps him in the position. (All stats from hockeydb.com),