Before Michael Pezzetta gets in one regular-season fight on behalf of his Maple Leaf teammates, he’ll have to battle his way onto the team.
That’s not news to the 6-foot-1 left winger, whose playing time with the Montreal Canadiens was limited last year, getting no points in 25 games with 24 penalty minutes. But sitting around his old room while contract details were being ironed out this week, he paused to look at his Mats Sundin and Curtis Joseph Toronto-era posters.
“I’m thinking ‘how crazy is this?,” Pezzetta said Wednesday on a Zoom call with Toronto media. “It’s a life-long dream of mine. First-time free agency and I had the option to go elsewhere, but couldn’t pass this up.
“They have a great team and I want to earn my roster spot. I know that come camp time, it’s not just a given that I have a spot. The style of game I play is different than a lot of the guys and hopefully that can be an ‘X’ factor.”
A couple of years ago, Pezzetta led the Canadiens in hits and was 10th in the NHL as well as chipping in points. But while Montreal made strides as a team in 2024-25, and Pezzetta did well defensively, he found it hard to get noticed.
“Kind of a weird year, being in and out of the lineup with nothing really going my way,” he said. “In years prior, I was pretty steady getting my 10 to 15 points and I’m confident I can do that again.
“Part of my game is being someone who is hard to play against, defensively responsible, whom the coach can trust. But then you’re going out there and try to change the game with a big hit or a good forecheck, change the energy, on the bench and in the room.”
The sixth-round pick in 2016 says he’s always been a big off-season worker in terms of conditioning and improving any weak parts of his game.
“It wasn’t easy, it took five or six years to get in my first exhibition game with Montreal. But when I did, I was ready for it because I put in all the work.”
A couple of his 14 NHL fights came against warhorse Ryan Reaves, now a potential teammate whom he’ll likely have to contend with for a bottom six role.
“No hard feelings,’ Pezzetta assured. “A few guys have to do their job and any time you meet guys like that off the ice, they tend to be the nicest. I look forward to meeting him and all the rest of the guys.”
After the two-year deal at an $810,500 AAV, the GTHL grad Pezzetta posted an Instagram picture of he and his brother as kids, decked out in Toronto togs.
“We were a Leafs household. That was our first Christmas getting our Leafs’ jerseys. It’s hard not to get stoked about playing for the Leafs when you’re from Toronto. My mom is super-stoked that I get to stay home. It has been a while.”
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