Pontus Holmberg Leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs and Signs with Division Rival
Photo credit: Imagn Images
With the Toronto Maple Leafs taking a stand against Pontus Holmberg, the forward has opted to sign a new deal with an Atlantic Division rival in free agency.
Yesterday, it was reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs were refusing to extend a qualifying offer to Pontus Holmberg, which effectively made him an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday.
Hours into free agency, Holmberg made his official decision, and as it turns out, it was not Toronto. Instead, he signed with a division rival.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Swedish forward has signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
This new contract will last two seasons, and Holmberg will be paid $1.55 million per season, which is a pretty solid salary for the 26-year-old.
Last season, Holmberg had seven goals and 19 points in 68 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 159 career games, he has 19 goals and 49 points.
Overall, his offensive contributions have not been enough, and that was certainly the case last season as the bottom six was almost unplayable.
Pontus Holmberg and the Tampa Bay Lightning
The future of the Tampa Bay Lightning will be interesting, especially after their first-round exit to the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.
They didn't do much in free agency on Tuesday, and Holmberg remains one of their biggest moves, which does not bode well for them.
However, the free agent market is thinning out right now, and there is not a lot of time left for teams to really do much of anything.
The Maple Leafs are feeling this right now, although there are still plenty of guys they can go out and acquire.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 1 | 653 ANSWERS Pontus Holmberg Leaves the Toronto Maple Leafs and Signs with Division Rival Do you believe Pontus Holmberg was right to leave the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| YES | 564 | 86.4 % |
| NO | 89 | 13.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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