Toronto Maple Leafs give Finger to waivers
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they have waived defenceman Jeff Finger. Once Finger clears waivers on Wednesday, the team intends to assign him to their American Hockey League
affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.
Finger is in the third year of a $14 million contract with the Leafs. Finger is set to earn $3.5 million for the 2011 season. Toronto head coach Ron Wilson said that the move was not
made to free up salary cap space, but due to the fact that the Maple Leafs have “seven guys (defencemen) better than him right now.”
Finger did not play in either of the Leafs first two games due to a knee injury he sustained during training camp.
Finger was an unrestricted free agent when he signed with the Maple Leafs at the end of the 2008 season. He was coming off a career year with the Colorado Avalanche and the Leafs were
very excited to land him.
Upon the signing, Wilson had big hopes for the player.
“He was the most improved defenceman at the end of the year in the Western Conference. He averaged almost 20 minutes, and in the first 30 games he didn’t play more than 10 in a game,”
he said at the time.
The excitement of the signing did not last into the 2010 season, as Finger was a healthy scratch for 38 games last season.
With the return of Brett Lebda on the horizon, Finger fell further down the team’s depth chart and shortly after that his name hit the waiver wire. The team does not intend to buyout
the remaining time on Finger’s contract. The plan, according to Wilson, is to let Finger play in the AHL and recall him if one of the team’s other defencemen are injured or falter in their play.
Finger played in 105 games for the Leafs, scoring eight goals and adding 25 assists. His plus-minus rating during those games was -18.
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