Happy Monday, today is a quasi-holiday in the same way the Leafs are now a quasi-hockey team.

After yesterday's addition of Tyler Bertuzzi, the Leafs could, if pressed, put a roster on the ice. I don't think anyone is too super happy about the depth options below that roster when someone is injured, however.

The Leafs have more to do, and one of the major things is the goalie situation. To review, the Leafs qualified Ilya Samsonov at $1.8 million, and he has arbitration rights.

Players have until Wednesday, July 5 at 5 p.m. to elect arbitration. At that point, teams have 24 hrs to elect on arbitration eligible players.

The process will then move to a hearing date scheduled sometime in late July or early August.

From that point on, the player and the team can negotiate a deal or the team can trade his rights or it can go to the hearing. If an arbitration hearing occurs, because of Samsonov's age, he can only get a one-year contract no matter who elects.

The "walk-away" amount for this season is $4,538,958. Teams can only choose to walk away from an arbitration award if it is player-elected.

Getting an arbitration case settled – either by award or with a contract – opens the second buyout window. The rules for the buyout are otherwise the same. And in case you've forgotten the Matt Murray numbers (I don't expect a buyout) they are:

  • $687,500 in 2023-2024
  • $2,000,000 in 2024-2025

With the ability to bury $1.15 million in the minors this season, he would count for $3,537,500 this year while on the AHL roster.

It's possible the goalie issue will take weeks to resolve, but in the meantime, it's very unlikely the Leafs are fully finished with their offseason work. They have an AHL team to revamp, coaches to hire, and depth players to add. They might also want to tinker a little more with the defence.

But for now the picture is a lot clearer.

Other News

David Alter has a story about Ryan Reaves, who is apparently the new Leafs party planner.

At time of writing one of these was official and the other wasn't yet final:

Maple Leafs to sign Tyler Bertuzzi
Here we are again talking about Tyler Bertuzzi. There were some rumours about Bertuzzi and the Leafs in 2021, as the obvious exit of Zach Hyman was playing out. The Leafs signed Michael Bunting instead.
Cathy SquiresPPP Leafs
Max Domi signed by the Maple Leafs
Max Domi is not his father, but now that they will both be Maple Leafs we should start out knowing who the son is.
Cathy SquiresPPP Leafs

Development camp begins today, no word on if anything will be livestreamed:

Scouting Reports on Toronto’s 2023 Development Camp Roster
Let’s talk about Toronto’s development camp roster, including their current prospects and all the invites who could be signed to a contract this summer.
Brian SPPP Leafs

And that's your Monday so far. You never know what's going to happen next, though.

From The Branches