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The Toronto Maple Leafs released defenseman Mark Fraser from a professional tryout contract on Monday, as the 28-year-old Ottawa native received an offer from his hometown Senators and signed a one-year, two-way deal for $800,000.
The former Leaf split time between Albany(AHL) and New Jersey(NHL) last season and may have been a candidate for an AHL contract with Toronto, but the Sens had an immediate need for some depth on the blueline after 21-year-old prospect Mikael Wikstrand returned to Sweden without the club's permission.
Toronto extended four professional tryouts prior to training camp and only one ended up being signed to a contract. Fraser joins wingers Curtis Glencross and Devin Setoguchi as players who were released, while Mississauga native Brad Boyes was signed to a one-year deal worth $700,000 on Sunday.
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UPDATE: A quick reversal on the Leafs broadcast crew not doing road games:
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The recent edict from the Leafs that radio play-by-play man Joe Bowen, color commentator Jim Ralph and the crew of Leafs TV will not be able to fly with the team on charter flights has resulted in them not being able to travel to road games this season.
A report on
TorontoSportsMedia.com Sunday indicated that the cost of travel for the radio crew alone would exceed $200,000 for the 41-game road games and that co-owners Rogers and Bell are unwilling to foot the bill.
If the decision stands, the radio broadcast for road games will be done in a Toronto studio instead of arena press boxes throughout the NHL and post-game interviews posted by Leafs TV after road games will not be available on the Maple Leafs website.
Although radio listenership has decreased in recent years with the advent of streaming video on computers, tablets and phones, almost all NHL teams have their radio broadcast crews’ travel on the road with them. It is surprising that the two rich conglomerates would be so fiscally conscious towards the presentation of their broadcast for a club in the league’s largest hockey media market.
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Another possible change in Toronto sports radio is the absence of AM640’s Post Game Show with host Andy Frost. The show that began as Leaf Talk in 1997 has continued for two years after the Maple Leafs radio contract with Corus Entertainment expired at the end of the 2013 season, but this season it has not appeared on the air for any of the five September exhibition games.
There are no indications on the station’s website whether the show will return for the beginning of the Maple Leafs regular season schedule on October 7th.
See Previous Columns
Leafs Sign Boyes, Release Setoguchi, Glencross, Send Marner Back To Junior
Lamoriello Looking To Bring In Familiar Faces; Leafs Vs Habs
Reasons Nylander Will Not Make The Team, Leafs Vs. Sabres; Leaf Buzz
Out With The Old, In With The New?
Nylander, Gardiner Impress In Win Over Habs, Leafs Cut Seven
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