Noel Acciari reveals his off-season intentions

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Evan Doerfler
May 16, 2023 (8:33)

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With the Leafs season officially coming to a close, today was the team's end-of-season media availability where players had the chance to answer any last questions. In the case of the Leafs, they are currently in their window of contention, or as some would say, "win now mode".

Built around their Core 4, the Leafs have brought in some fundamental depth pieces to their roster that have tremendously helped in filling out their team. Now that the season is over, many of these depth contributors are becoming UFA's (unrestricted free agents) and many are wondering what their future entails. Ryan O'Reilly and Michael Bunting both respectfully spoke on their off-season plans and their ideas for the future, yet to come to a conclusion.

On the other hand, fan favourite "Cookie" Noel Acciari, who was acquired with O'Reilly at the trade deadline, emphasized his interest in returning to the blue and white next season stating that he would "love to" return to Toronto for next season onward. Acciari was the leading hits leader in the playoffs and gave his maximum effort night in and night out.

In his tenure with the Leafs this season, Acciari had 5 points in 23 games throughout the regular season. In the postseason, he managed to string together 2 important goals in 11 games. Spending most of his time on the third line with colleague O'Reilly, they made for a tremendously effective duo down the stretch both physically and offensively.

Acciari signed a 1 year, $1,250,000 contract with the St. Louis Blues in July of 2022 with him likely looking for an increase in pay after a stellar postseason with the Buds. The Leafs have a ton of UFA's this off-season and a couple of RFA's to go along with it, making it that much more difficult to re-sign him. If Acciari is willing to sign for a fair deal that won't hurt the Leafs financially, and the two parties can settle for one another, there is a good chance we see him back in a Maple Leafs uniform in September.