Was scanning through the list of pending UFAs to see if there were any interesting middle-6 forwards who could potentially replace Hyman and/or Kerfoot if we lose them to FA/expansion. A couple of names immediately jumped out at me in Mikael Granlund and Blake Coleman, both of whom have been linked to the Leafs in the past. Jaden Schwartz was another tempting name if he's looking for a show-me type deal after a down-ish season.
Then the name of 25-year old, Group 6 UFA Michael Bunting caught my eye. I recalled an Arizona Coyotes reporter/observer speak pretty highly of him earlier this year. Some quick background info: he's 5'11" and 197lbs, turns 26 years old this September, was a former 4th round pick of the Coyotes way back in 2014, didn't played AAA hockey until he was 16 years old, and has just 26 NHL games under his belt. After his OHL career finished he spent 5 years in the AHL and slowly but steadily improved each year. This season he popped off with 19 points in 16 AHL games and that earned him a call-up to the NHL where he scored 10 goals and had 13 points in 21 games. He's unlikely to keep up a 26.3% shooting percentage but he also had some very good underlying numbers as well. He's generally described as a hard-working, pest type player.
Did I mention that he played his OHL hockey with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds where he was selected in the ninth round of the OHL draft by Kyle Dubas and coached by Sheldon Keefe? Certainly sounds like a very intriguing late-bloomer type player that the Leafs might be interested in this offseason.