MONTREAL- APRIL 10: Christian Hanson #20 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game tying goal during the NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens on April 10, 2010 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Maple Leafs the Canadiens 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)
Richard Wolowicz
The Toronto Maple Leafs have tied up their final loose end ahead of training camp. The team announced today that they’ve re-signed restricted free agent Christian Hanson to a one-year deal.
Hanson was the last of the team’s restricted free agents and while it’s making news in Toronto today because it’s the off-season and there’s nothing else hockey-wise going on, Hanson is just mainly a depth player. Brian Burke likes him and he’s a former player at Notre Dame in the NCAA so he’s got that going for him. Hanson had two goals last year for the Leafs after seeing most of his time spent in the AHL. Expect Hanson to get a shot at the third or fourth line center job if things break right for him in training camp.
The next move or moves for the Maple Leafs will be to see who gets moved in order to get the team under the salary cap. Expect this to be the source of great debate and lots of fingers being pointed at Leafs defenseman Jeff Finger. It’s possible that Finger could be sent to the AHL with his $3.5 million cap hit. Just thank me for not getting any further word play involved there on Jeff Finger’s name.
(Photo: Richard Wolowicz - Getty Images)