Steven Lorentz had numerous teams inquire about his services but chose the Toronto Maple Leafs for a chance at winning another Stanley Cup and doing so for his boyhood team.
Lorentz spoke with Sportsnet’s Luke Fox about what led to his decision to sign a PTO with the Maple Leafs, as it came down to buying into what Brad Treliving and Craig Berube were building, as well as the culture of the team.
“I’m not a guy who’s just going to jump on the first offer and the most amount of money,” Lorentz said to Fox. “I want to be in the right spot, a team that I believe is going to do well. I thought for a few years now that my game could kind of suit well in this system, especially with the top-level talent in the top lines. I thought I could come in and use my size and my speed and carve out an identity in the bottom six.”
While it is unclear how close the two parties were to getting a deal done in the past, perhaps having both Treliving and Berube at the helm was the ideal combination to make this come to fruition.
Lorentz knows what is going to be expected of him and knows what he is capable of doing, especially given he has seen what it takes to become a Stanley Cup champion during his time with the Florida Panthers. His reliability in the role he will be given should make him a favourite of Berube’s from a defensive standpoint.
“Check hard. Play defence. Be good on the penalty kill. And just bring that energy,” Lorentz said on what he will bring to the Leafs. “That’s what I’ve been doing, and that’s how I’ve had success in my NHL career so far. The simpler I play, the better. Just fly under the radar and do the right things on both sides of the puck.”
Lorentz could be on the verge of signing a permanent deal with the Maple Leafs, competing in camp on a professional tryout agreement. Aside from the fact that Treliving has been deliberate with who he has given PTOs to since becoming GM (Noah Gregor and Max Pacioretty), Lorentz has been a common presence on the fourth line throughout training camp alongside David Kampf and Ryan Reaves. AFPAnalytics has Lorentz projected to sign a one-year deal at the league minimum.
Lorentz wants to help instill a championship mentality in a team that has aspirations of achieving greatness and has fallen short numerous times, even if he’s not going to be playing on a nightly basis.
“To build a winning team, seeing what I saw last year, it’s guys that bring what they do best, and it’s not trying to go and do too much,” he said. “You know, I’m not going to go out there and try to score 50 goals this year. We got guys on the roster that can do stuff like that.”
While it is unclear when this permanent contract will become official, one thing that cannot be denied is that Lorentz will not be taking this chance for granted. He easily could have gone anywhere else in the league for more money but chose his boyhood team because he believes that they have a chance to go deep into spring.
“I’ve never worn blue and white in my life,” he said. “I’m looking in the mirror like pinch me. You know, I had my Sundin jersey, I had my Curtis Joseph jersey, all that stuff growing up. And now my jersey’s got LORENTZ on it. So, it’s pretty special.”
