{"id":52505,"date":"2019-07-24T12:55:23","date_gmt":"2019-07-24T16:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=52505"},"modified":"2019-07-24T12:55:23","modified_gmt":"2019-07-24T16:55:23","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-sign-pontus-aberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/07\/24\/toronto-maple-leafs-sign-pontus-aberg\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Pontus Aberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> signed free agent left wing\u00a0Pontus Aberg<\/strong><\/a> to a one-year, $700,000 contract. It is a one-way deal at league minimum salary.<\/p>\n

\n

.@SportChek<\/a> Player Alert: @MapleLeafs<\/a> announce free agent signings. #LeafsForever<\/a><\/p>\n

?\ufe0f Pontus Aberg
\n?\ufe0f Kenny Agostino
\n?\ufe0f Tyler Gaudet
\n?\ufe0f Kalle Kossila
\n?\ufe0f Nick Shore
\n?\ufe0f Garrett Wilson
\n?\ufe0f Kevin Gravel<\/p>\n

FUL DETAILS >> https:\/\/t.co\/czbjj4Dvqc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/p4WrX64y4j<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 24, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pontus Aberg Signs With the Maple Leafs<\/h2>\n

Over his three-year NHL career, Aberg\u00a0has played for the\u00a0Nashville Predators<\/a>, Edmonton Oilers<\/a>, Anaheim Ducks<\/a>, and Minnesota Wild<\/a>. He has put up 17\u00a0goals and 26\u00a0assists for 43\u00a0career points in 127\u00a0career games. He was originally drafted in the second round, 47th\u00a0overall of the 2012\u00a0NHL Entry Draft by the Predators.<\/p>\n

Last season he scored 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points. He also added 20 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 51.5 percent Corsi-For and a relative Corsi of +3.3.<\/p>\n

What This Means for the Future<\/h3>\n

Aberg’s game is entirely based off his speed, something that should help him fit in seamlessly with Toronto in a depth role. An acquisition like this is an extremely smart move by general manager Kyle Dubas<\/strong>, as cheap, effective depth is crucial to cap-strapped teams like the Leafs. Aberg is very comfortable with the puck and is also comfortable playing both wings, something that coach Mike Babcock<\/strong> will enjoy dealing with.<\/p>\n

A downside for Aberg is that he’s yet to consistently produce at the NHL level. He exploded this year with 19 points in 37 games for Anaheim, but after moving to the Wild, he only tallied 6 points in 22 games. Maybe a system better suited for his playing style will get him going again.<\/p>\n

Putting Aberg in a consistent role alongside a solid playmaking center (possibly\u00a0Alex Kerfoot<\/strong><\/a>) may catalyze him into a solid goal-scoring role. As Toronto looks to replace crucial depth pieces like\u00a0Tyler Ennis<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>last year, this Aberg signing is a solid move for the team.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Photo:\u00a0LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 21: Pontus Aberg #26 of the Minnesota Wild takes a break during a stop in play in the third period of a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on January 21, 2019, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wild defeated the Golden Knights 4-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed free agent left wing\u00a0Pontus Aberg to a one-year, $700,000 contract. It is a one-way deal at league minimum salary. .@SportChek Player Alert: @MapleLeafs announce free agent signings. #LeafsForever ?\ufe0f Pontus Aberg ?\ufe0f Kenny Agostino ?\ufe0f Tyler Gaudet ?\ufe0f Kalle Kossila ?\ufe0f Nick Shore ?\ufe0f Garrett Wilson ?\ufe0f Kevin Gravel FUL […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3006,"featured_media":40994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,34],"tags":[37,38,662,1837,72],"class_list":["post-52505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leafs","category-news","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-free-agency","tag-pontus-aberg","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3006"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52505\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}