'It’s been great so far… I would love to re-sign' Simon Benoit speaks about his time in Toronto

After signing a one-year, $775K contract as blue-line depth with the Toronto Maple Leafs in late August, Simon Benoit got an opportunity to play and has since run with it.

Brad Treliving signed the 25-year-old defenseman late in the off-season after not receiving a qualifying offer from his former team, the Anaheim Ducks, an organization he spent the previous five seasons with. He split playing time between the AHL San Diego Gulls and the Ducks between 2018-19 until last season, and it made little to no sense for a rebuilding Ducks team to part ways with a player who was only 24 at the time.

Luckily for Toronto, they saw something in Benoit to offer him a contract, even if it was just for blue-line depth at the time. He has exceeded every expectation since becoming a Maple Leaf, and his style of play is beloved in the city because all the fans of this team want is some players who play hard every night.

He isn’t a flashy player – we all know that by now. He is a big defenseman, 6’4, 215 lbs, who loves to let people know how big he truly is. He throws the body, blocks pucks for his goalie, and for someone who has a big frame, he is a pretty decent skater as well. He knows his role. He doesn’t try to force anything, knows he won’t impress in the offensive zone, and for somebody who has been between a second and third-pairing defenseman this season, he has done a solid job alongside Jake McCabe for the most part.

In a recent article by Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, Simon Benoit spoke about his time in Toronto thus far and had nothing but positive things to say.