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Speculation: Michael Bunting (a realistic look at)

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Wafflewhipper said:
Hyman will be playing with McDavid again who is a rush player every shift. He generates his own offense frequently. It’s going to be interesting to see how Hyman fits with him. It might see Hyman’s offense go away a bit.
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Hollweg would put up 50 points on McDavid's wing.
 
Mess said:
The impression I get is that Leafs are going to try and squeeze a square peg into a round hole with Bunting, based on need (no capable top 6 LWer in the organization now with Hyman leaving) and limited cap space available. so that the hope is Bunting is going to be able to ride on the coattails of Leafs top 4 forwards depending on what line he is tried on, and his production will be amplified not by his own talents and abilities but his linemates propping up his stats.

We just saw Jimmy Vesey a proven NHLer tossed beside JT and WN and he produced 5 goals and 7 points in 30 games before being waived.

Ideally I agree that Bunting at best is a bottom 6 player (if things work out) on his own merits, that can bang and crash and provide a little energy and occasional offense, while not being a defensive liability and help fill out the bottom of the roster with a <$1 mil player based on current cap management and spending situation.

I can see Bunting being forced to play higher up the roster than his own skillset allows and the expectations for his production seems fairly optimistic that this will all work out. He is not a high-end skilled player but a blue collar hard working one that can be useful if used right. Not a great playmaker, nor skater, but a straight ahead crash the net, fearless player that is rewarded at times for effort. In 5 of his 6 AHL years he never reached 2o goals in a season, so a more conservative expectation might be better suited here.

We have all seen our Lonny Bohonos of the past, where a carer minor leaguer has flashed over a small sample size and then tossed beside a Mats Sundin ,and then are gone again as fast as they arrived.
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You could switch Bunting's name with Hyman's here and it'd still work perfectly.
 
Who knows Bunting could lose a job to Alex Steeves, Gogolev or Holmberg gets permission to build on his MVP season with the Leafs.

Good thing about off-season everyone's a loser...
 
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Although he’s 7 years post draft, he’s put up good numbers in the AHL and continuously improved on it. Obviously a 20 game sample size in the NHL isn’t useful information, but he definitely earned an NHL roster spot and has the ability to put up 40 points this season.
 
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Mugzy97 said:
Although he’s 7 years post draft, he’s put up good numbers in the AHL and continuously improved on it. Obviously a 20 game sample size in the NHL isn’t useful information, but he definitely earned an NHL roster spot and has the ability to put up 40 points this season.
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I sure hope so. I would love it if he proved me wrong.
 
Bunting will be depended on for his forecheck, tenacity and hopefully pot 15 goals.

We are losing goals from Hyman, Thornton, Galchenyuk, Boyd and Vesey (all told about 32 goals in the shortened season) let’s pro-rate that to about 64 goals on a full season.

We gain Ritchie, Bunting, Kampf, Kase, Gabriel

If Ritchie can pot 20, and Bunting 15. We are relying on the rest of the new additions for about 30 goals. Kase is a huge question mark, but healthy could score 20 but I would only count on 5 before an injury happens. Kampf will struggle to get 5, Gabriel probably gets 0.

We will be relying on Mikheyev to have a big step forward or Robertson to make the team and score 10-15. A healthy Simmonds could chip in more too.

Sandin (and or Liljegren) could have big years and score up to 10 between them.

So I don’t think we are too far off our goal pace from last year with the additions. Of course Matthews will be challenged to repeat his pace especially after wrist surgery.

Bunting will bring his value in replacing Hyman’s energy and forecheck and might even add value with being a pest.

Ritchie will bring the heavy game and PP2 net front presence which an injured Simmonds couldn’t deliver last year.
 
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So ridiculous to project anything significant for this player. If he turns out to be worth a regular shift in the bottom 6, that would be a fantastic outcome.
 
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Mugzy97 said:
Although he’s 7 years post draft, he’s put up good numbers in the AHL and continuously improved on it. Obviously a 20 game sample size in the NHL isn’t useful information, but he definitely earned an NHL roster spot and has the ability to put up 40 points this season.
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His story is going to be one of the interesting things to follow this year to see how it turns out.

26 years old, and 7 years removed from his draft year, and 14 NHL points to his name in his career = 15-20 goals and 40 NHL points are his expectations.

Just for context former Leaf Kasperi Kapanen is also from Bunting's draft class of 2014 as he went round #1 #22 overall compared to round #4 #117 overall.

In 2018-19 - Kapanen - Toronto Maple Leafs - NHL .. 78 games 20 goals 24 assists 44 points... [ His career best year and also done on a Leafs team with this core 4 forwards]

So the expectations for some are for Bunting are set at Kapanen like career best season production. (based on only 26 NHL games and 14 NHL points to date).

Fascinating !!!

However if he ends up in Leafs top 6 and find chemistry on one of those top 2 lines I suppose anything is possible, but certainly not a safe bet to say the least. What are the realistic odds of this happening 99-1 and the long-shot on the board?
 
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He’s clearly getting overrated by some on here but he’s cheap and the best we could do with Dubas’ brutal cap management. He could work out to be a nice bang for your buck player but I only expect about 10 goals from him next year.
 
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Mess said:
His story is going to be one of the interesting things to follow this year to see how it turns out.

26 years old, and 7 years removed from his draft year, and 14 NHL points to his name in his career = 15-20 goals and 40 NHL points are his expectations.

Just for context former Leaf Kasperi Kapanen is also from Bunting's draft class of 2014 as he went round #1 #22 overall compared to round #4 #117 overall.

In 2018-19 - Kapanen - Toronto Maple Leafs - NHL .. 78 games 20 goals 24 assists 44 points... [ His career best year and also done on a Leafs team with this core 4 forwards]

So the expectations for Bunting are set at Kapanen like career best season production. (based on only 26 NHL games and 14 NHL points to date).

Fascinating !!!

However if he ends up in Leafs top 6 and find chemistry on one of those top 2 lines I suppose anything is possible, but certainly not a safe bet to say the least. What are the realistic odds of this happening 99-1 and the long-shot on the board?
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The hopes are Bunting will mesh well with skill players, Kapanen (at least here), was terrible at that.

Kapanen is a better version of Grabner, fast, can create his own chances, but has a low hockey IQ.

If Kapanen was able to use linemates better, he may have been a ~60 point player, but he was a 3rd line player here because he couldn't.

If Bunting can mesh with the top-6 there is no reason to believe he can't be a ~40 point player.

Having said that, he will likely have little to no PP time, so those 40 points are all even strength, which puts him top 100 in the NHL (or around there, based on the last full season), so it is a tall task, but being a #3 with Marner/Matthews or Nylander/Tavares gives him a good opportunity.

Projecting him without knowing where he fits into the lineup is pretty pointless.
 
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Mess said:
His story is going to be one of the interesting things to follow this year to see how it turns out.

26 years old, and 7 years removed from his draft year, and 14 NHL points to his name in his career = 15-20 goals and 40 NHL points are his expectations.

Just for context former Leaf Kasperi Kapanen is also from Bunting's draft class of 2014 as he went round #1 #22 overall compared to round #4 #117 overall.

In 2018-19 - Kapanen - Toronto Maple Leafs - NHL .. 78 games 20 goals 24 assists 44 points... [ His career best year and also done on a Leafs team with this core 4 forwards]

So the expectations for Bunting are set at Kapanen like career best season production. (based on only 26 NHL games and 14 NHL points to date).

Fascinating !!!

However if he ends up in Leafs top 6 and find chemistry on one of those top 2 lines I suppose anything is possible, but certainly not a safe bet to say the least. What are the realistic odds of this happening 99-1 and the long-shot on the board?
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We had much better depth when we had Kappy, though. Our current forward depth drops off massively after the top 4. 2 of Kerfoot, Ritchie, Bunting, Mikheyev and Kase will play in the top 6. IMO Kerfoot is the best of those, but I think we need some balance in the lineup, need him to be the top weapon on the 3rd line. Mikheyev just doesn’t seem to have the finish to play in the top 6, and Kase … has potential, but scary injuries, and he’s a RW, when we’re more in need of LWs in the top 6 (though Willie can play either side).

I think Bunting has a decent shot to nab a top 6 spot, and if he does, 0.5 PPG could be possible. Ideally he’s a bottom 6er, but we’re low on options.
 
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Mess said:
His story is going to be one of the interesting things to follow this year to see how it turns out.

26 years old, and 7 years removed from his draft year, and 14 NHL points to his name in his career = 15-20 goals and 40 NHL points are his expectations.

Just for context former Leaf Kasperi Kapanen is also from Bunting's draft class of 2014 as he went round #1 #22 overall compared to round #4 #117 overall.

In 2018-19 - Kapanen - Toronto Maple Leafs - NHL .. 78 games 20 goals 24 assists 44 points... [ His career best year and also done on a Leafs team with this core 4 forwards]

So the expectations for Bunting are set at Kapanen like career best season production. (based on only 26 NHL games and 14 NHL points to date).

Fascinating !!!

However if he ends up in Leafs top 6 and find chemistry on one of those top 2 lines I suppose anything is possible, but certainly not a safe bet to say the least. What are the realistic odds of this happening 99-1 and the long-shot on the board?
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Who said that was the expectation?
 
Bunting isn't paid like he's a significant addition, so expectations need to be managed even if he's become a "name" recognized addition through all this offseason talk.
 
Stephen said:
Bunting isn't paid like he's a significant addition, so expectations need to be managed even if he's become a "name" recognized addition through all this offseason talk.
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I think all posters outside of one mod understands this.
 
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I think Kerfoot and Ritchie end up as the LWs for our top 2 lines. That leaves Bunting with Kampf and Kase. Not the perfect spot to get a 40 point season.

But if Kerfoot stays as the #3C, then there's a lot of possibilities.

If Bunting does land a top 6 spot, then there's absolutely a chance he hits 15 goals or 40 points. I'd love to see it.
 
banks said:
I think Kerfoot and Ritchie end up as the LWs for our top 2 lines. That leaves Bunting with Kampf and Kase. Not the perfect spot to get a 40 point season.

But if Kerfoot stays as the #3C, then there's a lot of possibilities.

If Bunting does land a top 6 spot, then there's absolutely a chance he hits 15 goals or 40 points. I'd love to see it.
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I’m betting Kasse doesn’t even lace up skates for the Leafs this year
 
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