Leafs sign depth defenceman on cheap one-year contract
The Toronto Maple Leafs have added another defenceman into their mix.
As per the team, Toronto has signed 24-year-old defender Simon Benoit to a one-year contract. According to the team, Benoit’s contract comes in at a value of $775,000, which is the current league minimum under the active collective bargaining agreement.
Benoit potted three goals and added seven assists in 78 games with the Anaheim Ducks last season, while averaging 19:21 of ice time per night. But he’s perhaps best known for his physical presence, putting up 128 blocked shots while having 216 hits last season.
Simon Benoit, signed by TOR, played second pair minutes on the Ducks last year, a fate I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/4L5ssh3ua9
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 28, 2023
Across parts of three seasons with the Ducks, he’s put up four goals and 11 assists for a total of 15 points in 137 games, averaging 17:13 a night of ice time.
A native of Laval, Quebec, who played his junior career with the Shawinigan Cataractes, Benoit went undrafted and spent three seasons with the AHL’s San Diego Gulls before making his NHL debut back in 2021 with Anaheim during the pandemic-shortened season, playing six games for the team.
While he’s had plenty of NHL opportunities to date with Anaheim, it’s likely his role will be heavily diminished in Toronto, who are, to put it nicely, a team with different current aspirations than the perennially struggling Ducks roster.
Benoit joins the Leafs with the likely goal of competing for a roster spot at training camp, although it won’t necessarily be easy. Several veteran defenders are returning in Toronto, including Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie, Mark Giordano, Jake McCabe, and Timothy Liljegren. John Klingberg was also signed on a one-year deal this offseason.
In all likelihood, if Benoit were to crack the roster, he’d probably be doing so as the team’s seventh defenceman, serving as insurance as injuries are inevitable to pile up over the course of the season.
Benoit’s first chance to suit up for his new team comes on September 24, when the Leafs travel to Ottawa’s Canadian Tire Centre to face their rival Senators in preseason action.
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