The Toronto Maple Leafs took care of some in-house business Saturday, inking center Ryan Tverberg to a one-year, two-way contract. PuckPedia reports the deal pays the league-minimum NHL salary of $850,000.
Tverberg, 24, was a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract. The Leafs issued the expected qualifying offer at that $850,000 figure, but the new deal also bumps his American Hockey League pay. He’ll earn $250,000 in the AHL with a $350,000 salary guarantee. No signing bonuses, no performance bonuses, no trade protection. Just a straight-ahead prove-it deal.
From UConn to the Calder Cup
Toronto grabbed Tverberg in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. He put in time at the University of Connecticut before signing his entry-level deal in 2023. Since then, he’s basically lived with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. And this past season? That was his best one yet.
He put up career highs across the board: 15 goals, 21 assists, 36 points in 63 regular-season games. Then he flipped a switch during the Marlies’ Calder Cup championship run. Tverberg piled up six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 24 playoff games. That kind of production usually doesn’t go unnoticed.
The Leafs gave him a look late in the regular season. He skated in two NHL games, didn’t score, but managed a plus-one rating and two penalty minutes. Small sample size, but the team clearly liked what they saw from the 5-foot-11, 187-pound forward.
Tverberg’s AHL career has been a bit of a rollercoaster. He had 32 points as a rookie in 2023-24, then dropped to just 11 points the following season while dealing with multiple injuries. That could have stalled his momentum. Instead he bounced back with a championship-level performance.
What’s Next for Tverberg
He’ll probably start next season with the Marlies again. But training camp gives him a real shot to compete for NHL ice time. If injuries hit Toronto’s forward group, he’s one of the first names the front office will call up.
With Tverberg signed, the Leafs now have 45 contracts on the books. He’s the second RFA to ink a deal this offseason after defenseman Emil Andrae. That leaves Jacob Quillan and William Villeneuve as the remaining qualifying-offer RFA’s still waiting for new contracts.
Tverberg’s deal is a low-risk handshake for a player who just proved he can perform when the games matter most.
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