Tyler Bertuzzi's New Contract: Joe Sakic has ruined the Maple Leafs negotiations

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a big offseason ahead with several upcoming free agents. One of the biggest names is Tyler Bertuzzi who was a fantastic depth scoring option for the Leafs. Today a contract extension signed by the Avalanche has made his future murky.

The Colorado Avalanche and Joe Sakic have decided to re-sign forward Casey Mittelstadt to a long-term contract this afternoon. He came to the Avalanche at the trade deadline in a deal with the Buffalo Sabres.

With his contract ending the Avalanche and Joe Sakic acted swiftly and brought back Casey Mittelstadt back on a 3-year 5.75 million dollar per year deal.

Casey Mittelstadt's extension provides a comparable for the Tyler Bertuzzi contract talks now. Both players have had similar highs and lows in the NHL.

Both settle in around a half point per game but have had near-point-per-game peaks. With Tyler Bertuzzi signing after Casey Mittelstadt he will likely want a slight pay increase over $5.75 million. To this point, fans had expected a contract coming in at less than 5 million.

With the small amount of salary cap space that the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to have Tyler Bertuzzi might be a luxury the team cannot afford. With free agency less than a week away the Toronto Maple Leafs need to find their priority immediately. If they want Tyler Bertuzzi to be a part of their future they might need to overpay.

Source: Maple Leafs Daily
Tyler Bertuzzi is as good as gone, thanks to the Colorado Avalanche