The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed enforcer Frazer McLaren on waivers, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.
The 26-year-old winger has no points and 72 penalty minutes in 26 games for the Maple Leafs this season and was in the lineup on Saturday against Montreal, but saw only 3:27 of ice time at the Bell Centre.
McLaren played in four of the last six games for the Leafs after suiting up only twice from December 17th to the end of January and has seen his physical role with the club diminish significantly after playing 35 games during the lockout shortened 2013 season.
The Winnipeg, MB native signed a two-year, $1.4 Million contract extension last July. His deal being one-way and having another season may be enough of a impediment to other NHL teams to allow McLaren to clear waivers and join the AHL Toronto Marlies, especially when most NHL clubs are trying to open up addition cap space in anticipation of the March 5th trade deadline.
With the demotions of Carter Ashton and Peter Holland over the weekend, waiving McLaren lowers the Maple Leafs roster to 22 players and reduces the Leafs salary cap hit by $700,000, making room for the impending activation of center Dave Bolland off of the long term injury list.
Based on the comments from Leafs GM Dave Nonis last week, Toronto is not going to be in the market for quick fix rental players before the March 5th trade deadline, but would be open to a "hockey deal" that would bring back an asset that they could retain past the end of the 2013-14 season.
The area that this makes the most sense for is on defense, where Cody Franson, Jake Gardiner and Paul Ranger are all free agents. The 26-year-old Franson is eligible for salary arbitration and is not having a good followup to his breakthrough 2013, while the 23-year-old Gardiner is coming off his entry level deal and could be looking for a significant pay raise as teammate Nazem Kadri was after his entry-level deal expired last summer.
Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reported that a Leafs scout was spotted at a Stars game on the weekend. Rumors have cropped up that the Stars might be willing to shop blueliner Trevor Daley, but the Toronto native is signed through 2016-17 at a fairly reasonable $3.3 Million per season.
*******
After questionable defensive efforts in consecutive overtime losses to the Islanders and Canadiens, the Maple Leafs return to the friendly confines of the Air Canada Center to face the Columbus Blue Jackets for the third and final time this season.
Toronto has won seven straight games on home ice going back to a 3-2 shootout victory over New Jersey on January 12, but will have a difficult task against a Blue Jackets club that has outplayed the Leafs badly on two previous occasions; a 5-2 loss in Columbus on October 25 and a 6-0 shutout loss at the ACC on November 25.
The Leafs have a chance to put a fairly insurmountable distance of nine points between them and Columbus in the race for an Eastern Conference playoff spot on Monday, but a Blue Jackets win would narrow the gap to just five points with Columbus having two games in hand.
Toronto uncharacteristically did not take to the ice for a morning skate on Monday, so there is no preliminary indication whether Jonathan Bernier will make his ninth consecutive start or if James Reimer will see his first action since being pulled in Winnipeg on January 25.
INTERESTED IN TICKETS TO THE GAME???: Get Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets For Any Game At FanXchange.com.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter:
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information
click here.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»