The Toronto Maple Leafs had a tough decision to make, as they had to choose between Max Domi, and Tyler Bertuzzi.

They would sign Domi and let Bertuzzi, who priced himself out of Toronto walk.

Domi would sign a $15 Million deal, with the buds, while Tyler Bertuzzi would sign in Chicago, for $5.5 Million AAV, with a 4 year term.

The Blackhawks wouldn’t have even been on his radar, if it wasn’t for the Blackhawks own, Nick Foligno reaching out to Bertuzzi.

«Chicago wasn’t really on my radar,» Bertuzzi said. «And then, the day before free agency, Nick Foligno called me and he said, ‘They’re a little bit interested.’ I was excited about that and then things kind of went from there.»

Bertuzzi further explained, «We just talked about the organization, the city, where to live, and things that are important to me and my family while obviously moving to a new city.»

The timing of the contact between Foligno and Bertuzzi set off alarms around the league, as there could be potential tampering involved. Bertuzzi confirmed this by discussing his own conversations with Foligno.

Considering these conversations happened prior to free-agency, Bertuzzi is facing serious accusations of tampering.

But for now, no reports of investigation regarding the transaction have been these allegations up until July 11th.

It can be assumed Foligno and Bertuzzi built a solid relationship while they played together in Boston, in 2022-2023.

GM Kyle Davidson would go onto acknowledge how big of a help Foligno’s reach was in the league, on July 5th:

«I think Nick’s got a lot of friends around the league,» Davidson told reporters. «He’s a guy, I think, whose network is very large. It’s kind of funny when we hear that. We don’t ask them to do these things but Nick cares. He knows a lot of people, he loves the team and he wants to push this thing forward.»