Toronto’s Bunting gives ‘credit to the Greyhounds’
by Peter Ruicci (Independent Media) | Photo by James Egan’s Sports Photography
Talk about being a long shot.
Not only did taking the road less travelled lead to Michael Bunting becoming a bona fide NHLer, it also eventually took him home, to Toronto, and spot on the Maple Leafs’ No. 1 line.
The Scarborough native was bypassed in both his Ontario Hockey League draft year and the year after.
It took a nod from former Soo Greyhounds general manager Kyle Dubas, in the ninth round (160th overall) of the 2013 Priority Selections, for Bunting to finally become property of an OHL team.
The winger was an 18-year-old (1995 birth year) when he began his Major A career.
“I give credit to the Greyhounds for pretty much my entire career,” said Bunting, who played two seasons for the Hounds, was drafted by the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes (fourth round, 2014), played 323 games in the American Hockey League, signed a two-year free agent deal with the Leafs over the summer and wound up earning a spot on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
In his first full NHL season, the now 26-year-old has seven goals and 12 assists in 27 games heading into Thursday’s home game for Toronto against Tampa Bay.
“I think if I wouldn’t have gotten drafted by the Greyhounds, if I would have gone anywhere else, I don’t know where I’d be in my hockey career,” said Bunting. “Going to the Soo and having them develop me, that just took my game and my confidence to another level.”
Bunting went on to say he “can’t thank the Hounds enough for getting me to where I am today.”
Despite the fact he was ignored through two OHL drafts, the six-foot, 190-pounder said he never lost confidence in his ability.
He spoke of playing AA hockey, basically because of the high costs involved with competing for a AAA team.
Bunting recalls Dubas and Wes Clark, then in charge of player development for the Greyhounds, seeing him play in an all-star game and drafting him two years later.
Dubas is in his fourth season as the Leafs’ GM and Clark is Toronto’s director of amateur scouting and assistant director of player personnel. During his stint with the Hounds, Bunting was coached by Sheldon Keefe, also his coach in Toronto.
“It’s funny how everything comes full circle,” he mused. “Kyle drafted me into the OHL and then when I became a free agent, he was one of the first people to contact me on the first day of free agency. It was kind of a no-brainer to play for him again.”
As he does with Dubas, Bunting also enjoys a special relationship with Keefe.
“I loved him as a coach in juniors and I love him as a coach in the pros. He’s great,” Bunting said. “What I like most about him is he tells you what he likes and he tells you what you need to work on. He gives it to you up front. There’s no sugar-coating it.”
As an OHL rookie, Bunting certainly showed glimpses, notching 15 goals, 27 assists and a plus-minus of plus-10 in 48 games. A Hounds team led by Sergey Tolchinsky (31-60-91) finished 44-17-2-5 and defeated Owen Sound in five games in the Western Conference quarter-finals.
However, the Erie Otters, led by Connor Brown (45-83-128), Dane Fox (64-43-107) and Connor McDavid (28-71-99), who started the season as a 16-year-old, swept the Soo in four straight in the semifinals.
Dubas departed after that season, replaced by new Hounds GM Kyle Raftis. In 2014-2015, Bunting posted a 37-37-74 stat line with a plus-44 in 57 games. Paced by Bunting, Tolchinsky (30-65-95) and Jared McCann (34-47-81) up front, and defenceman Darnell Nurse (10-23-33 in just 36 games), the Soo showed such promise Raftis made big moves at the trade deadline.
His deals brought in defenceman Anthony DeAngelo and wingers Nick Ritchie and Justin Bailey, and the Hounds finished with the OHL’s best record: 54-12-0-2.
They stopped Saginaw in four straight in the conference quarters and Guelph in four straight in the semis. But in the Western final, an Erie squad led by McDavid (44-76-120 in just 47 games), Dylan Strome (45-84-129) and Alex DeBrincat (51-53-104) eliminated the Hounds in six games.
Bunting talked of how he and buddy Blake Speers, a Sault native and former Hounds teammate, have often spoken about that season.
“It was upsetting. We had such a special team,” said Bunting. “We had such a close group, we just came up short. It still stings. If we had gotten past Erie, anything could have happened in the league finals.”
Erie wound up losing the championship to Oshawa in five games.
Bunting says he still keeps in close touch with Speers, skating for Tucson in the American Hockey League. He also remains close with Nurse, Ritchie, Jean Dupuy, David Miller and Tyler Ganly.
After leaving the Greyhounds, Bunting’s four seasons in the AHL led to a 21-game stint with the Coyotes a season ago. He notched 10 goals and three assists, catching the eye of a number of NHL clubs.
The opportunity to reunite with Dubas and Keefe, while playing at home in front of friends and family, made Toronto a preferred free agent destination.
Asked about skating alongside Matthews and Marner, Bunting said his approach involves “just playing my game, a simple game. I’m playing with confidence, getting in on the forecheck, retrieving pucks and creating space for my linemates.”
He also talked of how determined he is to get to the opposition net.
“Even when I was in the Sault, that’s where I’ve always scored my goals.”
Bunting lauded the impressive talents of Matthews and Marner, saying how enjoyable it is to play with the duo.
The first time he donned a Toronto uniform and heard his name announced at Scotiabank Arena was “definitely a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life. The little boy inside of me, who watched the Leafs growing up, was jumping up and down experiencing that.”