Insider Reveals Latest on Tyler Bertuzzi Talks With Maple Leafs

His season started slowly, but Tyler Bertuzzi came on in the second half this past season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, posting 15 goals in the final 34 games. The Leafs signed him to a one-year $5.5 million contract last summer, and now as an impending unrestricted free agent, they would like to bring him back.

But according to the latest report from hockey insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period on Monday, it doesn't sound like anything is imminent, with just two weeks to go until Bertuzzi would hit the open market.

The #LeafsForever remain in contract negotiations with Tyler Bertuzzi’s camp. Still too early to determine where it goes, but I’m told both sides “continue to work at it” ahead of him hitting UFA status July 1.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 17, 2024

Pagnotta says the negotiations are still ongoing, and the two sides “continue to work at it” per his sources. It's been a couple of weeks since they began to work on a mutual desire to re-sign the 29-year-old, so one has to decide if this is good news that the two sides are still talking, or not-so-good that nothing has come of it yet.

Last summer, it was believed that Bertuzzi was looking for a long-term deal after not having had a contract longer than two years during his career since the expiry of his entry-level deal. But the market didn't evolve for him the way he'd hoped, and he signed the one-year pact with the Leafs hoping to parlay that into something with more term this summer. That could be the sticking point with Toronto, as GM Brad Treliving may not be interested in offering anything of a long-term nature.

The former Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins forward finished the season with 21 goals and 22 assists for 43 points in 80 games and notched another four points in seven playoff games.