Michael Bunting takes a shot at Maple Leafs

One player who will not be back with the Toronto Maple Leafs next season in what will be new general manager Brad Treliving's first year on the job is 2022 Calder Trophy runner up Michael Bunting, who skipped town to sign a three-year contract with the contending Carolina Hurricanes. 

Bunting scored 23 goals with 26 assists last season with the Leafs, which was the final year of the two-year, $1.9 million deal he signed under ex-general manager Kyle Dubas. Bunting now joins a Hurricanes team that is a force in the Eastern Conference and came within four wins of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for what would have been the first time since 2006. 

Not long after signing with Carolina, Bunting disclosed that Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour reached out to him on the first day of free agency, helping to sell him on joining Carolina.

And recently, Bunting then took a jab at the Leafs, implying that they didn't seem to want him anymore during an appearance on The "JD Bunkis Podcast" on 590 The Fan. 

"It wasn't a lot of contract talk that went on during the season," he said in regards to contract negotiations. "Then once the offseason came along... didn't really hear much... you kinda just figured that it wasn't going to work... it was just quick talks, nothing extensive." 

The Leafs moved fast to replace Bunting, bringing in the likes of Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi along with tough customer Ryan Reaves.

You can bet that when the Hurricanes and Leafs get together in the upcoming season, Bunting is going to be determined to show his former team that they made the wrong choice when it came to offering him an extension to stick around!

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