Off-season Maple Leafs departures: Alex Kerfoot’s point per game month, and Noel Acciari returns from injury.
Another month of the 2023-24 NHL season has passed, so it’s time to check in on six former Toronto Maple Leafs players who departed the organisation this offseason. From Michael Bunting to Alex Kerfoot to Luke Schenn, I look at six former Maple Leafs and how they are performing on their new clubs.
It sucked to see Michael Bunting leave the Toronto Maple Leafs in the off-season, but it was understandable, given the contract he was going to demand, as well as his occasional antics on the ice. The Scarborough native signed a big four-year deal with the Carolina Hurricanes after putting together two productive seasons with his childhood team, scoring 112 points in 161 games with the Maple Leafs. Fast forward to this season with his new team, and the 28-year-old has continued to be productive. In 36 games with Carolina this season, Bunting has registered 25 points (eight goals and 17 assists), including a goal against his former club. His eighth goal on the season against Toronto a couple of nights ago capped off a productive December as he put up ten points in 15 games to improve his season totals to 25 points in 36 games.
Ryan O’Reilly’s best season since the 2018-19 campaign continues after another solid month of production in December. The Clinton native left Toronto after playing just 24 games with the Maple Leafs in the regular season and playoffs to sign a big four-year deal with the Nashville Predators. Since he arrived in the Music City, O’Reilly has been incredibly productive as the team’s number one centre. Despite his age and the potential of slowing down, O’Reilly is currently on pace to have his second-best season points-wise after registering 11 more points in 15 games last month (four goals and seven assists). With another stellar month, the 32-year-old now has 30 points in 37 games, putting him on pace to finish this season with 66 points (31 goals and 35 assists).
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