Leafs Re-Sign Schenn

The Toronto Maple Leafs were not terribly worried that they would get Luke Schenn under contract before the start of camp on Friday and they were correct in their assumption, although it was at the very last minute. Fortunately for the Leafs, Schenn was not going to hold himself out of camp without a deal, but it was definitely a luxury to get an agreement in place before they hit the ice officially to start camp.

Late Thursday night/early Friday morning, it was reported that Schenn agreed to a deal with the club, signing a 5-year deal, worth $18 million, a $3.6 million cap hit per season.

Schenn, known more as a shutdown defenseman with the Leafs, does have some offensive numbers that are depth worthy for your hockey pool, as he finished with 5 goals and 17 assists in all 82 games in 2011.  The 21-year old will likely benefit from a more offensive club in 2012, but I wouldn't rush to pick him up in the draft, likely holding back to about the 25-point mark.

Forwards		Defense		Goalies
Phil Kessel	75	Dion Phaneuf	45	James Reimer	65
Tim Connolly	65	John-Michael Liles	40	Jonas Gustavsson	15
Clarke MacArthur	60	Cody Franson	35
Mikhail Grabovski	60	Luke Schenn	25
Nikolai Kulemin	55	Carl Gunnarsson	20
Nazem Kadri	45	Keith Aulie	15
Tyler Bozak	35	Mike Komisarek	10
Joffrey Lupul	30
Colby Armstrong	30
Matthew Lombardi	30
Philippe Dupuis	15
Darryl Boyce	15
Mike Brown	5
Colton Orr	5
Joe Colborne	40	Matt Lashoff	10	Jussi Rynnas	15

Schenn rounds out a full projected roster, especially with Matthew Lombardi sounding like he'll be much closer to playing than not this season.  As soon as he is cleared and ready to go, I believe his projection should increase as well.

I have the Leafs with a full 23-man roster here at the moment, including Lombardi, also worth mentioning a buyout on the books, for a projected annual cap hit of $61.5 million, just $2.8 million shy of the cap ceiling.  The Leafs do intend to spend the maximum amount of money this season, but with nearly a $3 million annual buffer, they should be able to work something out, more so at the trade deadline than right now.