Friday, September 16, 2011

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.

ForwardsDefenseGoalies
Phil Kessel75Dion Phaneuf45James Reimer65
Tim Connolly65John-Michael Liles40Jonas Gustavsson15
Clarke MacArthur60Cody Franson35
Mikhail Grabovski60Luke Schenn25
Nikolai Kulemin55Carl Gunnarsson20
Nazem Kadri45Keith Aulie15
Tyler Bozak35Mike Komisarek10
Joffrey Lupul30
Colby Armstrong30
Matthew Lombardi30
Philippe Dupuis15
Darryl Boyce15
Mike Brown5
Colton Orr5
Joe Colborne40Matt Lashoff10Jussi Rynnas15

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.

Salary CapI 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.

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