Michael Bunting Isn’t the Toronto Version. Here’s What the Flyers Actually Got.

The Flyers signed Michael Bunting to a one-year, $1.2 million deal four games into the season. That tells you two things. The front office doesn’t think the bottom six it has is good enough. And it’s a reminder that every year there’s a Michael Bunting sitting in free agency waiting for a contract, which makes some of the guys already here a lot easier to move.

Before anybody gets carried away, let’s level set. This isn’t the guy who put up 63 points as a rookie and finished as a Calder finalist riding with Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares in Toronto. That was 2021-22. Here’s what the last three years say he actually is.

What’s going on

Bunting is 31. He split last season between Nashville and Dallas, put up 13 goals and 31 points in 61 games with the Predators, then played through a groin injury after the deadline deal. He also knows Rick Tocchet from Arizona, and he knows Todd Reirden from Pittsburgh. That familiarity matters when you’re plugging a guy into a lineup in October.

The InStat numbers show a player who’s still productive, but trending down. His points per 60 went from 2.64 in 2023-24 to 1.87 and then 1.89. His individual expected goals per 60 dropped every year, from 1.34 to 1.18 to 0.93.

That’s not a red flag for a $1.2 million bottom-six winger. It’s just the honest version of who he is now.

What I’m seeing

I compared his 2025-26 InStat numbers to the Flyers’ bottom-six forwards from last season: Grundstrom, Hathaway, Abols, Glendening, Bump, Barkey and Grebyonkin, combined.

Offensively, he’s a real upgrade. Bunting produced 1.89 points per 60. That group combined for 1.24. His expected goals per 60 were 0.93 against their 0.69, and he got to the inner slot more often, 2.52 attempts per 60 to their 1.92. That’s the part of the ice the Flyers couldn’t get to in Tampa.

He drives possession better than what they had. His shot attempt share was 51.8%. The Flyers’ bottom-six group was at 44.8%. When he’s on the ice, his team has the puck more than the other team does. That hasn’t been true of the Flyers’ bottom six.

He draws calls. 1.61 penalties drawn per 60, against 1.17 for the group. That’s the agitator piece, and it fits right next to Martone, who’s been doing the same thing.

If you drop him into last year’s bottom six, only Alex Bump had a better points per 60, and Bump did it on a 307-minute sample.

Defensively, he’s not the answer. Bunting had 9.6 takeaways per 60. The group had 11.6. His puck battle win rate, 47.4%, was right in line with theirs. Opponents generated 3.10 expected goals per 60 with him on the ice, which is about the same as the group’s 2.96. He’s not going to fix the D-zone problems I wrote about after Tampa. He’s there to help you score once you have the puck.

Against the whole roster, he’s a middle-six forward. Line him up against all 18 Flyers forwards who played 300-plus minutes last season and he’d rank 9th in points per 60 and 9th in expected goals per 60. That’s right in the middle of the lineup. He’d be 1st in shot attempt share and 2nd in penalties drawn. He’d also be 15th in takeaways and 12th in opponent expected goals against, which is the same story the bottom-six comparison tells.

Over the last three years combined, the picture is a little better: 6th in points per 60, 2nd in expected goals per 60 and 1st in shot attempt share among 20 Flyers forwards with 600-plus minutes. Some of that is playing in Carolina’s system in 2023-24, which is why I weighted last season more.

What to expect

If he plays 12 to 13 minutes a night, his 2025-26 rates point to about 12 goals and 30 points over the next 75 games. That’s a good return on $1.2 million. It’s not a top-six answer, and it shouldn’t be sold as one.

What I’d like to see moving forward

Put him with a center who can win pucks back for him and let him do what he does: get to the net, annoy people and draw penalties.

And watch the roster around him. The front office just showed you that a 30-point bottom-six winger is available for $1.2 million in October. That makes some of the guys already here easier to move. InStat had Hathaway at 5 points and a 42.3% shot attempt share last season. Grundstrom and Bump are the names mentioned as possibly heading to Lehigh Valley. If a deal for a defenseman comes together, the bottom six is where the Flyers have just shown you they can find cheap replacements.

Data: InStat (Michael Bunting game logs 2023-24 to 2025-26, Flyers skaters 2023-24 to 2025-26), Philadelphia Inquirer. Rates are per 60 minutes, all situations.