Maple Leafs sign veteran F Lettieri to one-year deal
Published
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed veteran forward Vinni Lettieri to a one-year, $775,000 contract.
Lettieri, 30, posted three goals and five points in 26 games with the Boston Bruins last season, adding another 21 goals and 50 points in 47 games with the AHL's Providence Bruins.
He has 15 goals and 32 points in 155 career games with the Anaheim Ducks, Bruins and Minnesota Wild.
Another depth add for Leafs
The Maple Leafs have focused on the fringe of their roster in free agency, with their most noteworthy unrestricted free agent signing coming in winger Michael Pezzetta, who inked a two-year deal with an annual average value of $812,500 on Tuesday.
Toronto also signed forwards Travis Boyd and Benoit-Olivier Groulx in addition to re-signing restricted free agent Dakota Mermis.
While the Maple Leafs were linked to Nikolaj Ehlers, general manager Brad Treliving said Tuesday the team was likely to build out their roster via trade with the pool of players available in free agency getting "thinner and thinner."
"That's probably the path right now that we're looking more closely at," he said of making trades.
While the team retained John Tavares, Toronto has been looking for a top-six centre who would push Tavares into a third-line role.
"I know everybody wants to talk about second-line centres," Treliving said. "There's probably, by my count, 27 teams that are looking for them. And so the ones that have them aren't giving them out too quickly."