Bunting Vs Hyman
Bunting was brought in to be the cheap replacement for recently departed Zach Hyman, Hyman was beloved by his hometown team but unfortunately his play priced him out of Toronto and ultimately led to him signing with Edmonton for 7 years at 5.5 million dollars per season. Zach fit in with the Oilers seamlessly putting up 54 points in 76 games in his first season before having a breakout year in 2022-23 with 83 points in 79 games. With Hyman gone Dubas was forced to find a cheap replacement to compliment his high cost "Big 4" forwards. Despite a small sample size with the Arizona Coyotes in 2020-2021, Bunting put up 10 goals and 3 assists in 21 games. This was enough for Dubas to decide on signing the 25-year-old rookie to a 2 year 950-thousand-dollar contract. Michael was originally brought in to be a suitable depth option for a team up against the cap; but a mixture of unrecognized talent, chemistry with superstars Matthews & Marner and a gritty edge saw Bunting soar up the depth chart and onto the top line at left wing. In his rookie season/first as a Leaf Bunting erupted and scored 23 goals along with 63 points in just under a full season. Leafs Nation was ecstatic to see our version of a Brad Marchand finally arrive, and the loss of Hyman didn’t instantly sink the team. The second season for their respective clubs has seen the pendulum swing back in Hyman’s favour to many Leafs fans chagrin. Bunting found his high penalty differential evaporate due to NHL officials’ distaste for Michael’s game and found himself heading to the box more than head coach Sheldon Keefe would like for his top line winger. Bunting has bounced through all 4 lines this season and despite the irregularity in his deployment he has managed to put up over half a point a game pace along with 22 goals. The narrative of a lot of Oilers fans have has been "Thanks for cheeping out on Zach Hyman", this wasn't the case. The Leafs would have loved to retain the services of the 28-year-old winger but 5.5 million would have put the leafs over the salary cap and wasn't possible. Hyman was a great Leaf and has been an Incredible Oiler thus far, but in all fairness, bunting has been a very good Leaf in his tenure as well. To properly compare the value to production for both these players I attempted to calculate their cost per point through their 2 years (Bunting has played 6 more games than Hyman).
Cost for each Point scored
Hyman - GP: 155 Points: 159 Cost/Point: $34,591.20 per point scored as an Oiler
Bunting - GP: 161 Points: 112 Cost/Point $8,482.14 per point scored as a Leaf
*As you can see, Cost per Point Bunting is a massive value player. Bunting is short 47 points in this comparison, so for arguments sake if you multiply Michael's $8,482.14 x 47 = $398,660.58 more dollars over 2 seasons to have Bunting match Hyman totals. So if you were to add this new value to Bunting's current salary you should get an estimate of what 47 more points would cost. This would mean it cost 11 million Dollars for Hyman to score 159 points, opposed to Bunting costing the Leafs approximately $2,697,321.16 for him to match 159 points over 2 seasons. *(hypothetical approximation) *
Controversial Calls
The 2022-2023 season saw the referees and linesman put their whistles away when it comes to Mike, as many officials feel Bunting embellishes to draw penalties and in turn makes the officials look incompetent. I personally am a big fan of the agitating game Bunting plays, there is a certain art to being a top 6 pest who can throw other players off their game enough to draw penalties and I feel that the way the league has handled the player since he allegedly gained the reputation this year is ridiculous. With that being said, I do understand the logic in why this player has begun to fall out of favour with the officials. It’s not only the fact that Bunting is often actively trying to agitate the opposition and diving dramatically when he’s shoved or interfered with. The biggest flaw in his game is when someone on the ice misses a call against Bunting, Mike will make sure the referee hears about it the entire way down the ice and for most of the remaining game. His bashing of officials and arguing with calls has been his biggest downfall this season, he has now fallen victim to the wrath of the refs (Below are several egregious missed calls or offsetting penalties Bunting has experienced this season).
A massive thank you to @TicTacTOmar on Twitter for allowing me to use his links to show the videos related to these incidents
The shove
https://twitter.com/TicTacTOmar/status/1605364312712908805?s=20
Carlo non-call
Offsetting penalties with McLeod
On the April 2nd matchup with the Detroit Red Wings the bias against Bunting was on full display and it put a spotlight on the officiating. In this contest Bunting was given offsetting penalties along with defenceman Jake Walman (2:00 Cross Checking) Bunting received (2:00 Unsportsmanlike) which might as well have been two minutes for being cross checked. The anti-Bunting officiating continued after Red Wing centre Marco Kasper started a post period scrum with Timothy Liljegren, with all 10 skaters involved in the extracurricular activities only one player received a 10-minute misconduct. Bunting was assessed the 10 minutes for “accidently on purpose” dragging a Detroit players stick away with his skates. Despite this being very intentional in an attempt to annoy a Red Wing's player and shift momentum for the Leafs, in no world does this warrant a 10-minute misconduct.
Walman offsetting penalties
10 minute misconduct
The treatment of Michael Bunting has become such a topic of controversy that Keefe came out to tell the media that Dubas would be reaching out to the league to discuss the ridiculous officiating his player is receiving. Since this alleged call from Maple Leafs management Bunting has continued to be targeted by the officials, on the April 4th matchup against the Blue Jackets Columbus captain Boone Jenner went after Bunting in a post whistle scrum. The officials decided the best course of action was to hold back Bunting (despite Bunting not retaliating or attempting to engage Jenner). Most recently, on the final home game of the season the Leafs delivered a whopping one-sided victory as they prepare for playoffs defeating their Original Six rival the Montreal Canadians 7-1. During the game and after a whistle Joel Edmundson decided to deliver a cross check to an unsuspecting Bunting. Fellow Scarborough Native Wayne Simmonds happened to be on the ice and immediately acted against Edmundson. Edmundson received (2:00 Cross Checking) & (2:00 Unsportsmanlike), Simmonds got (4:00 Roughing) while Bunting got (2:00 Unsportsmanlike).
Not engaging Jenner
Offsetting penalties with Edmundson
Bunting has firmly landed himself on the NHL officials hit list, where Bunting used to be incredible at drawing calls for his club, he is now often the victim of make-up calls. The refs still call the infractions committed against Michael, but now look to fabricate a call-in order to ensure Bunting isn't getting his team the power play. The best way for an opposing team to get Bunting into the box is to cross check him from behind and skate away, apparently receiving a cross check in now unsportsmanlike. A similar series of events transpired around Nazem Kadri early in his Leaf career, attention was drawn to his impressive penalty differential and suddenly the calls up and evaporated. In all fairness to the NHL officials, they do have an incredibly hard job and take a lot of unjustified criticism on a nightly basis. With that being said it is their job to "Officiate" NHL games, not "Manage" them. The Tim Peele "It wasn't much, but I wanted to get a (expletive) penalty against Nashville early in the ..." hot mic quote shed a light on how officials tamper with the flow of a game. If one team commits several blatant infractions, it is not required that the officials make a "make up call" in order to balance the game. The playoffs are official start tonight, meaning the NHL rule book is about to get thrown out the window for the most part. The refs got a preview of what's in store in the first round matchup between the Leafs and Lightning last week, where there was a total of 16 penalties called in the game (8 Penalties each) and still a few questionable/missed ones (The Corey Perry Cross-Check and the 5th man in penalties below). It will be interesting to see how the NHL officiates the post season and will bias referees be a factor for Bunting and the Leafs in this year’s playoffs.
Bunting's penalty for trying to help Tavares
Bunting’s playoff impact
So, with Bunting's ability to draw penalties gone (Penalties tend to become less frequent in the post season as it is), what else can Michael bring to a team looking to take the next step past a strong opponent. In his rookie playoff run Bunting managed to put up a goal and 2 assists in 6 games. despite a half a point a game pace against Tampa last year, that stat line is underwhelming in comparison to his regular season output, especially for someone playing top line left wing. The deployment of Bunting in this year’s playoffs could potentially be beneficial if he is slated lower down in the lineup. If Bunting is slotted on the potential 3rd line centred by Ryan O'Reilly, he may be able to capitalize on a weaker line match than last year, while still playing with a highly skilled player. Last year Michael was essentially third wheeling with Marner & Matthews as they carried the offence for that line while being matched up with Tampa's top "Shut down" lines. With Anthony Cirelli and the Lightning's best defensive players attempting to smother the offence on the top 2 lines, this could be advantageous for Bunting's playoff production. Besides the offence and the matchup, Bunting's ability to get under the oppositions skin and throw the Lightning off their game is an underrated x-factor that should always be considered. The Leafs have often experienced pests trying to grind down their stars to gain an edge in the series, with Bunting down the lineup he is in a prime position to poke and pry at Tampa Bay's stars while having the appropriate back up for such interactions (E.g., Starting a scrum with Accari & O'Reilly as backup opposed to Marner & Matthews). Being knocked off the top line sucks, but if this happens it could be a blessing in disguise that allows him to play his most effective style come playoff time. After seeing the line rushes at practice on Sunday, it appears Keefe has reunited his top line of last year. Despite the idea of hiding Bunting on a lower line being a tactic, Sheldon knows that this has been one of his most consistent and reliable lines over the past 2 seasons. The beauty of the way Keefe has been putting his lines in a blender leading up to the playoffs means he can go back to his old reliable lines knowing what kind of shakeups he can make if his players aren’t clicking mid game. I think Michael will be playing top line at Scotiabank Arena and may find himself playing 3rd line minutes with Ryan O’Reilly when on the road, in an attempted to create a line matching issue for Jon Cooper when the Lightning have home ice advantage.
Is Bunting a long term fit the Leafs can afford?
Frank Sirevalli of TSN came out on March 30th 2023, stating he has Michael Bunting as the top UFA in free agency this summer. This means that a lot of teams (probably the Oilers again as signing former Leafs is their favourite thing appearently) will be taking a swing to land the Scarborough Native. Simply put, the Leafs will not be able to outbid other teams financially. The Leafs are already so close to the cap that they have had to use 4 amateurs try out goalies in the lead up to the post season due to salary cap issues. Bunting was originally the cheap replacement to Hyman, but his success has begun to price him out of Toronto as well. If Bunting opts to take a significant pay raise which is both understandable and deserved the Leafs will be bargain bin shopping for the next player to fill this roll in July. What is the expected price tag that teams will be offering Bunting on Canada day? I took a look at players of a similar age, point production and same games played in order to see comparables. Anders Lee, J.T, Compher and Phillip Danault all played 82 games and just beat Bunting’s production. Anders Lee put up 50 points this season and carries an annual cap hit of 7 million, Compher put up 52 points making half as much as Lee with 3.5 million and Danault lead the charge for points this year with 54 at a cap hit of 5.5 million. If Bunting is a consistent 50-point scorer, he can likely snag a pretty hefty raise. After comparing his statistics to his peers and going through several different articles a lot of people are estimating 3-5 Years term at somewhere between 3-4.5 million dollars per season, this is a price tag is likely too rich for the Maple Leafs blood. The only hope for the Leafs retaining the services of their resident pest is if Michael is willing to take a hometown discount for a longer term at a lower cap hit and if the situation/deployment (playing in the top 6) is promised as long as performance matches that of a top six player.
I personally believe that the Leafs should try and do all they can to keep Michael Bunting in his hometown. If the Leafs and Mike are able to mutually agree on a contract around the 5-6 years at a low cap hit between the 2-2.5 million mark, there is a chance Bunting can be a long-term fit. This is a player whose path to professional hockey wasn't the easiest. He has fought and clawed from AAA hockey all the way to NHL. At no point was Bunting becoming a professional hockey player in the NHL ever guaranteed, he’s managed to seize every opportunity that has been presented to him to get him where he is now. This is a player who possess a surprising amount of skill in the way he can complement stars like the Leafs big four, he's the pest that we've missed who thrives on agitating his opponents and he's a player who has shown heart and battled to get to this spot in his career. Bunting has a passion for being a hockey player and he has even more passion for being a member of the team he grew up cheering for, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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