Bertuzzi and Domi celebrate a victory Photo credit: Maple Leafs/X

The Toronto Maple Leafs and forward Tyler Bertuzzi have previously expressed a mutual interest in a long-term contract, but after a resurgent second half of the season, Bertuzzi potentially upped his dollar value.

When the Leafs and Bertuzzi agreed on a one-year deal in July last summer, reporters revealed that the two sides had originally discussed a long-term deal before eventually settling on a one-year contract worth $5.5M

In addition to discussing it in July, the two sides had expressed interest in an extension at various times throughout the season according to insiders like Darren Dreger, Chris Johnston and Elliotte Friedman and it looked like Toronto was going to get a bargain on said extension until Bertuzzi tallied 15 goals and 23 points through February, March and April.

At his end-of-season media availability, Bertuzzi said he was open to returning and that his family loved living in Toronto.

Report: Maple Leafs Forward Tyler Bertuzzi Expected to Sign Four-Year, $22 Million Contract with Chicago Blackhawks in NHL Free Agency - The Hockey News Toronto Maple Leafs News, Analysis and More

Although the Leafs’ cap situation is still murky, they currently have $18.5M in cap space so an extension is certainly possible and there is much more room to negotiate than they had a year ago.

Evolving Hockey recently released their annual contract projections for all upcoming UFAs and RFAs and for Bertuzzi, the numbers are not astronomical. In fact, the most likely contract that Evolving Hockey projected is cheaper than his current cap hit with the projection being for 4 years and $4.9M annually.

That’s not to say that Bertuzzi, who is 29, would only want a four-year term, or that the Leafs would be willing to give him four or more years, but it provides both sides with flexibility. The other projections for a varying length of contract are as follows:

1 Year: $3.15M
2 Years: $4.03M
3 Years: $4.93M
5 Years: $5.95M
6 Years: $5.98M
7 Years: $5.8M
8 Years: $6.5M

So as you can see, the Leafs’ cheapest options are one year, which does not make sense for either side, or two years where they would save nearly $1.5M on his current salary.

It would be unlikely that Bertuzzi would agree to a two-year extension so if the Leafs want to bring him back, they need to set aside at least $5M a season for him. If an extension does get worked out, I wouldn’t expect it to be soon, especially with the number of other things Treliving has to work through first.