{"id":533422,"date":"2026-03-13T09:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533422\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T09:44:13","slug":"why-michael-pezzetta-finally-made-his-maple-leafs-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/533422\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Michael Pezzetta finally made his Maple Leafs debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

But when the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> rang on Canada Day, he looked up at the big picture of Mats Sundin, his boyhood hero, hanging on his wall. Over there was a photo of prime CuJo and a bunch of other Leafs from the try-hard, blue-collar era.<\/p>\n

The passion grabbed the pen and made the choice for him.<\/p>\n

Pezzetta, the former Montreal Canadien, inked a two-year, $1.63-million, dream-come-true deal. Words couldn\u2019t do the possibilities justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking to local reporters through an irrepressible grin over Zoom on July 2, the 27-year-old journeyman tried\u00a0surreal\u00a0and\u00a0grateful\u00a0before landing on\u00a0stoked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to cheer for the Leafs, being from Toronto. I can\u2019t even explain how stoked I am right now,\u201d Pezzetta said. \u201cI\u2019m insanely fired up.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust, like, so excited to put that jersey on for the first time. I can\u2019t even explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fourth-line scrapper and forechecking energy bundle, the mustachioed Pezzetta had been positioned over the summer as a younger, cheaper, hungrier winger to replace the San Jose\u2013bound Ryan Reaves, a heavyweight\u00a0he\u2019d fought as a Hab.<\/a><\/p>\n

Eager, Pezzetta began working out with his boyhood club at the Leafs\u2019 Etobicoke practice facility well before training camp\u2019s official opening. He was trotted out with Toronto\u2019s other new forward hopefuls \u2014 Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli and Nicolas Roy \u2014 at the organization\u2019s September golf tournament. He even joined the team\u2019s fantasy football league.<\/p>\n

No one imagined Pezzetta playing all 82, but, surely, he\u2019d be involved in the squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chatty and punchy and proud to be here, Pezzetta\u2019s snotty DNA seemingly fit the fourth-line option coach Craig Berube and GM Brad Treliving were seeking.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe style of game I play is different from a lot of the guys\u2019, so hopefully that can be an X-factor,\u201d Pezzetta said, heading into the season. \u201cA lot of my game is being someone who is hard to play against, being someone that is defensively responsible, someone that a coach can trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to go out there and change the shift of a game with a big hit or a good forecheck, make a good play and really change the energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"3232 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n

Latest episode<\/a><\/p>\n

Pezzetta\u2019s prophesized energy injection never arrived\u2026 until now.<\/p>\n

An underwhelming preseason and crowded fourth line saw Pezzetta get sent down to the Marlies before opening night. He got injured. He got forgotten.<\/p>\n

Playing a similar checking role in the minors, his first long taste of bus life since 2021-22 with Laval, Pezzetta did manage four goals, 10 points and 52 penalty minutes in 37 AHL games.<\/p>\n

But not until Thursday, ahead of the floundering Leafs\u2019 game against the mightier Ducks of Anaheim, was Pezzetta invited back to the show. (This following the trades of three depth forwards and the callups of fellow Marlies Jacob Quillan and Bo Groulx, who showed well in Montreal Tuesday.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna look at guys down there,\u201d Berube told reporters at morning skate. \u201cHe\u2019s one of the guys that we wanted to see\u2026 for a little while now.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the eve of his 28th birthday, Pezzetta may not be able to snuff out Toronto\u2019s eight-game losing skid alone, but at the very least he should have his legs going and his heart pumping.<\/p>\n

The left winger can provide a refreshing edge to a sleepwalking roster.<\/p>\n

We suspect seeing Brendan Gallagher\u2019s delivering a late hit on Easton Cowan Tuesday in Montreal played a role in Pezzetta\u2019s callup here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Good on Jake McCabe for sticking up for the rookie, but it wouldn\u2019t hurt to have a more experienced fighter on the bench as the lottery-bound Leafs skate out the string here.<\/p>\n

No need to add injury to insult.<\/p>\n

The Maple Leafs’ season may be over, yet 17 games must still be played.<\/p>\n

Why not give Pezzetta a little peek?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not as if wingers like Steven Lorentz (four goals) and Joshua (seven goals) \u2014 both of whom project as scratches \u2014 are above sitting out a game or two.<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s five months later than he envisioned, let\u2019s see if that rush of passion Pezzetta felt when he chose Toronto can materialize as he makes his Maple Leafs debut on home ice.<\/p>\n

Upon learning of his debut Thursday morning, Pezetta told reporters: \u201cI\u2019m super stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maple Leafs projected lineup Thursday versus Anaheim:<\/p>\n

Cowan \u2013 Matthews \u2013 Nylander
Knies \u2013 Tavares \u2013 Domi
Maccelli \u2013 Groulx \u2013 Robertson
Pezzetta \u2013 Quillan \u2013 J\u00e4rnkrok<\/p>\n

Rielly \u2013 Carlo
McCabe \u2013 Ekman-Larsson
Benoit \u2013 Myers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But when the Toronto Maple Leafs rang on Canada Day, he looked up at the big picture of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":533423,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-533422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=533422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/533423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=533422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=533422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=533422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}