Mere months after trading him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Toronto Maple Leafs are bringing back Daniel Winnik.
The contract spans two years, and while the Leafs didn’t reveal financial details, HNIC’s Elliotte Friedman reports that it’s worth $4.5 million ($2.25 million cap hit) overall.
Winnik, 30, nabbed Toronto quite a nice haul around the trade deadline, including second and fourth-round picks.
He’s clearly happy to be back, too, as you can see in emoticon form:
So happy and excited to be rejoining the leafs organization, looking forward to the next two years in blue and white. 😁😁💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻
— Daniel Winnik (@Danwinnik34) July 1, 2015
Winnik is by no means a spectacular producer - his 34 points from last season marked the best total of his career - but he’s a nice find by “fancy stats” standards. Just ask the Leafs:
The #Leafs & Pens had 49.5% of the shot attempts (score adj.) with Winnik on the ice - a 1.7% increase from when he was off. #TMLtalk
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) July 1, 2015
With Winnik and P.A. Parenteau added to the mix, the Maple Leafs stand a chance to nudge their possession numbers in the right direction, even if that difference will be subtler than the void left behind by Phil Kessel.