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Toronto Maple Leafs waive Jeff Finger, deny ‘burying’ his salary cap hit

Scott Hartnell, Jeff Finger

Philadelphia Flyers’ Scott Hartnell (19) fights with Toronto Maple Leafs’ Jeff Finger in the third period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, in Philadelphia. Philadelphia won 6-2. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

AP

In most situations when a team wildly overpays a hockey player, the reaction is usually “They gave him that much?” Yet when it came to the Toronto Maple Leafs handing a four-year, $14 million deal to Jeff Finger, the most common reaction was: “Who?”

It was a deal that was indicative of how direction-less the Maple Leafs really were at that time and it only seemed inevitable that the team would push Finger into the minors at some point. While coach Ron Wilson denies that they’re “burying” his cap hit in the minors, TSN reports that the team placed Finger on waivers today. Wilson said that if he clears waivers on Wednesday, he’ll be sent to the Toronto Marlies in the AHL.

Even the most foolish GM will not bite on Finger’s ridiculous $3.5 million cap hit. Honestly, I’d be surprised if the team had any trouble calling him up, either.

The Maple Leafs are one of the NHL’s richest franchises so it’s no surprise that they’re able to stash away $3.5 million in the minors. Teams have been circumventing the salary cap with odd contracts and waiver moves for years, but never has the cap ceiling been a bigger joke than in 2010 (more on that later).