Toronto Maple Leafs: Breathe Easy, Kris Russell Has Been Signed
After a long summer of putting up with Kris Russell to the Toronto Maple Leafs rumors, it’s officially over (well, tomorrow it will be).
The replacement level defender has not signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Instead he joins the Edmonton Oilers in a fitting situation.
Amusingly enough, the Oilers also traded former first overall pick Nail Yakupov for a Tim Hortons gift card and a 50% off coupon for Sportchek.
Why is this important for the Maple Leafs? Well, the Yakupov deal isn’t, but it’s still worthwhile pointing out Edmonton’s blunders.
The Russell deal, though, is very important. They’ve been connected to him since July 1st and no matter how many times someone says the fit doesn’t make sense, the rumors still come.
This means that there will be no more players coming in to take spots from either Carrick or Corrado, both of which have played well during the pre-season.
Roman Polak at $2.25M looks like an absolute steal compared to Russell at $3.1M. As much as the Polak signing didn’t make sense, it would have made even less sense if they had of brought in Russell.
From the combinations that the Leafs have used in the pre-season, it looks like there’s going to be a rotation between Polak, Carrick and Corrado. That’s the best case scenario for the Leafs heading into the season.
They need to see what Carrick and Corrado can do as an extended look. They’re going to get that this year and management will be able to see what they have moving forward toward the competitive years.
There’s a need for a right-shot defender, and one of those players seems like they can at least successfully fill the third pairing role for many years to come.
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