Toronto Maple Leafs sign deal with Kitchener native Steven Lorentz

Kitchener native Steven Lorentz has earned a spot with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lorentz was born in Kitchener but grew up in Waterloo. He spent part of his minor hockey career with the Waterloo Wolves.

The 28-year-old agreed to a one-year, $775,000 deal with the Leafs on Sunday, signing the contract in Kitchener, at Westmount Golf & Country Club.

“Coming from this area of town or being just an hour away it was my dream to be a Maple Leaf my whole life,” Lorentz said to reporters on Monday.

Toronto is Lorentz’s fourth NHL team playing in Carolina, San Jose and Florida.

“The dream had come true,” Mark Lorentz said, Steven's father “If you ever saw his bedroom, which is still the way it is today, there’s Maple Leafs all of the wall.”

Leafs fandom runs deep in the Lorentz family. Mark spoke to CTV News about all of the late nights watching Leafs games.

The long-time hockey dad keeps a photo of 5-year-old Steven posing with the Stanley Cup in 2000, when New Jersey Devils legend Scott Stevens brought the cup back to Kitchener.

Mark followed the superstition that any player who touched the cup before winning it would be forever cursed, and never claim the prized trophy himself.

The photo showed young Steven fully committing to the rule, sitting beside the cup, wearing hockey gloves, and keeping his hands a safe distance away. The discipline paying off 23 years later, when Lorentz won the cup with the Florida Panthers.

Maybe the most notable part of the photo is the bright white Maple Leafs jersey Steven was wearing.

Mark Lorentz, Stephen's dad, holds up a photo of Steven posing with the Stanley Cup in 2000. (CTV News/Tyler Kelaher)

TSN Maple Leafs reporter Mark Masters tells CTV Lorentz brings valuable intangibles to the team.

“This is a guy who has got a great positive attitude, that is really really well-received in the dressing room,” Masters told CTV. “The fact that he just won the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers is going to be helpful.”

Lorentz is expected to play in a depth role and possibly help on the penalty kill.

Looking ahead, Mark says the Steven’s focus is winning another Stanley Cup.

“I said ‘Stevie you’ve done it all. You’ve won the cup. Where do you go from here?’. He said ‘well, why not win the cup in Toronto?’”, Mark said.

The Maple Leafs drop the puck on the regular season in Montreal on Wednesday.

Their first home game comes Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.