Jeff Finger Waived

  The Toronto Maple Leafs have finally begun the process of ridding themselves of Jeff Finger’s monster cap hit by waiving the four year defenseman on Sunday. Should he clear waivers and not be picked up by another team, Finger will report to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

  Finger was signed to a four year deal at $3.5 million per-season in 2008 by now relieved GM Cliff Fletcher. The deal was definitely an eye-brow raiser, and his demotion is comparable to recently waived defenseman Wade Redden by the Rangers, and NHL veteran defenseman Sheldon Souray of the Edmonton Oilers. All three of these defensemen are overpaid, but are each NHL caliber players.

  In none of these plays’ case is the player at fault for the money in which they make. The onus is on the general managers and agents to get the numbers and term right. The only mistake the players may have made is signing the dotted line that would effectively decrease or even end their NHL playing career.

  Finger never came close to playing worth his dollar amount, and his demotion really comes as no surprise. He was a healthy scratch for a good chunk of last year and had much the same prospect on this year. He has only appeared in 105 games over the first two years of his contract and managed to only post 8 goals and 25 assists with a -17 rating and 63 penalty minutes.

  The Toronto Maple Leafs were spending $28.325 million on defense alone with Finger in the lineup, partially on assumption that Kaberle would be traded by now, and partly due to late, and off-season acquisitions to bolster the blueline. The offense has taken a hit, however, as $26.054 million is spread through 13 roster forwards.

  Head coach Ron Wilson was quick to point out the reasoning behind the move, citing it not solely a move to free up cap dollars.

“We’ve got seven guys better than him right now, and that’s what it came down to. And we’re not going to carry eight defenseman, we don’t even want to carry two extra forwards.” Wilson had to say about the situation. “If Fings (Finger) plays well, and somebody on our team isn’t, then we recall him. We’re not burying him or anything like that.”

  Finger did not appear in the first two games of the season after he sustained a knee injury in pre-season. 

  Soon Brett Lebda will step in, finally, and show what he’s got for the Leafs. Lebda plays a great offensive/defensive kind of role and possesses great speed. He was signed as an unrestricted free-agent on the off-season to a two-year contract. Lebda has spent all 5 of his NHL years in Detroit, where in 326 games he has scored 18 goals and 50 assists for 68 points and an impressive +31 rating with 201 penalty minutes.

- Kendall Grubbs