The Toronto Maple Leafs signed defenceman Nick Blankenburg to a standard NHL contract after he impressed during his PTO he signed this offseason.
On Sunday afternoon the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had signed the free agent defenceman to a one-year, $1.40M contract after a strong training camp while coming in on a PTO.
Blankenburg impresses Toronto enough to earn an NHL contract
Puckpedia was first on the call as they announced the signing, with the team's statement and official announcement coming shortly:
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Blankenburg had 24 points in 61 games for both the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche, and has 58 points in 176 career games spent with Nashville, Colorado, and Columbus.
The defender isn't the biggest guy on the ice but he plays with one of the biggest hearts. He's a great transition player and has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Blankenburg added one assist in two preseason games as well as nine blocked shots in total - he was a beast in a short span.
He will be additional defensive depth behind Troy Stecher and Emil Andrae, with the latter likely swapping in and out of the lineup with Blankenburg depending on what Jim Hiller needs on that particular night. He also may earn some time on the third pair with Oliver Ekman-Larsson as well after his strong performance.
Where Toronto's cap situation stands right now
After signing Blankenburg, that puts the Maple Leafs currently $3.808M over the cap for 2026-27, so they are going to need to make some moves. Max Domi's LTIR placement is basically a given at this point, but that won't clear everything.
The team would need to place someone else like Dakota Joshua on the LTIR or at the very least need to waive William Villeneuve to break even. There's a lot of work for John Chayka but clearly he wouldn't have made this decision if there wasn't a plan in mind.
It will be interesting to see how Hiller utilizes Blankenburg in the lineup but as of now, he's got one more weapon on the back end that gives the Maple Leafs more mobility, puck-movement and another selfless player willing to sacrifice himself to win.
Did Toronto make the right call in signing Nick Blankenburg?
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