The Toronto Maple Leafs are continuing to tinker with their roster and has signed veteran forward Rich Clune to an NHL contract and placed center Mark Arcobello on waivers.
The 28-year-old Clune was signed to an AHL deal by the Leafs in July after being bought out by the Nashville Predators and has played well for the Toronto Marlies, with two goals and three assists in eight games.
Clune has shown energy, versatility and leadership in his short stint with the Marlies, playing in a more offensive role with William Nylander and Connor Brown and more of a checking role with rookie Frederik Gauthier and KHL import Nikita Soshnikov.
"I'm an up and down guy, I get in there, I charge hard on the forecheck trying to get the puck. said Clune, who has played 120 NHL games with Los Angeles and Nashville.
Head coach Mike Babcock has been looking for more effort and contributions from his depth forwards, inserting Byron Froese into the lineup in place of center Peter Holland last Saturday and now replacing Arcobello with Clune, who scored the only goal for the Marlies in a 3-1 loss to Syracuse on Wednesday.
According to Chris Johnston from Sportsnet, the deal is a one-year, two-way deal for $575,000(NHL) or $350,000(AHL).
Marlies forward Rich Clune scoring past Syracuse goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy on Wednesday
Image courtesy of Christian Bonin at TSGPhoto
The 27-year-old Arcobello has no points in seven games for the Maple Leafs this season, playing mostly fourth line duty and averaging 11:20 TOI per game.
Arcobello played for four NHL clubs (Edmonton, Arizona, Pittsburgh and Nashville) was claimed off of waivers twice and traded once last season, so it is not out of the question another NHL team could have interest, but his one-year contract is for $1.1 Million this season, as opposed to a more economical $600,000 last year.
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