Global Courant
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed Tyler Bertuzzi for a year worth $5.5 million, the team announced on Sunday.
Bertuzzi, 28, had four goals and 10 assists in 29 games for the Detroit Red Wings last season before being traded to the Boston Bruins for two draft picks in March.
The six-foot-tall, 186-pound left winger scored four goals and 12 assists in 21 games for Boston, as well as five goals and five assists to tie Brad Marchand for the Bruins’ playoff scoring lead with 10 points in seven games.
Bertuzzi became a free agent upon the completion of a two-year, $9.5 million contract he signed in Detroit.
Prior to the trade, he had spent his entire six years in the NHL with the Red Wings. He was Detroit’s second-round pick (58th overall) in the 2013 draft.
The Sudbury, Ontario native has 218 points (92 goals, 126 assists) in 326 career games.
Flames lure defender Oesterle to a 1-year contract
The Calgary Flames signed defenseman Jordan Oesterle to a one-year contract.
The 31-year-old from Dearborn Heights, Michigan, has scored four goals and 15 assists in 97 games over the past two seasons with the Red Wings.
Oesterle has 19 goals and 65 assists in 349 career NHL games with Detroit, Arizona, Chicago and Edmonton.
The product of Western Michigan University was part of the USA team that won a bronze medal in the 2018 Men’s World Championship.
The six-foot-tall, 190-pound player’s contract is one-way and worth $925,000.
Welcome at the
The Flames also announced the re-signing of Dryden Hunt, Martin Pospisil and Colton Poolman on Sunday.
Calgary acquired Hunt of Cranbrook, BC, at trade deadline from the Maple Leafs in exchange for Radim Zohorna.
The 27-year-old winger had five goals and 10 assists in 17 games and another three goals and three assists in nine playoff games for the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League.
Hunt signed a two-year contract for the NHL minimum of $775,000 per year.
Pospisil has played four seasons in the organization of the Flames. He had four goals and six assists in 20 games for the Wranglers last season.
The 23-year-old Slovak and Poolman both agreed to annual contracts worth $775,000.
Poolman enters his fourth season with the Flames’ organization.
The defender had two goals and 12 assists in 64 games and appeared in nine playoff games for the Wranglers last season.
Oilers sign Gleason
The Edmonton Oilers signed free defenseman Benjamin Gleason to a two-year contract, the team announced on Sunday.
The deal has an average annual value of $775,000.
The first year is a two-way contract, the second season is one-way.
Gleason, 25, joins the Oilers from the Dallas Stars organization where he signed in 2018 as an undrafted free agent.
The six-foot-tall, 185-pound blue liner made four appearances for the Stars during the 2018/19 season.
Gleason also spent five seasons with Dallas’ AHL-affiliate Texas Stars, where he scored 141 points (29 goals, 112 assists) and 188 penalty minutes in 290 games.
Canucks retains Hirose
The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenseman Akito Hirose to a two-year contract, the team announced on Sunday.
The team did not release the financials of the contract, but said it is a two-way deal for the first year and one-way for the second season.
The 24-year-old Hirose played in each of Vancouver’s final seven games in the 2022–23 regular season after signing a one-year contract with the club on March 29.
In those seven games, the six-foot, 170-pound Hirose had three assists, four penalty minutes and four shots on target.
Before signing with Vancouver last season, Hirose completed his third year of college hockey at Minnesota State Mankato.
He recorded 27 points (four goals, 23 assists) and 18 penalty minutes in 38 games.
