Toronto Mike

Jeff Finger Signing Never Made Sense

leafs

Jeff Finger has been placed on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs.  When he clears waivers, he'll be sent down to the Marlies and Brian Burke will get $3.5 million of cap room back.

One of the cool things about maintaining this blog for the past 8 years is that I can go back in time and read what I thought about events as they unfolded.  For example, on July 1, 2008, I wrote an entry entitled "Uncle Cliffy Gives Us The Finger".  The deal didn't make any sense to me at the time, and here's what I wrote.

I understood signing Cujo to a nice and tidy one year deal for $700,000 but I don't get why Cliff Fletcher just signed defenceman Jeff Finger to a four-year deal worth $3.5 million a season.
I understand the Toronto Maple Leafs need bodies, but do we really have to give four year deals to 28 year olds with 94 career games under their belts? Admittedly, I can't remember ever seeing him play, so if The Finger is Sylvain Lefebvre reincarnate I shall stand corrected.
In a sense, Uncle Cliffy just gave us The Finger and told Bryan McCabe to f*ck off.

It's also fun to read the comments that fateful day in July, 2008.  I wrote this in response to a few "trust Cliff" comments.

C'mon, he was benched for half of the Avs' playoff games. How awesome could he be when he's a healthy scratch in the playoffs?
And, that's a mammoth raise for a guy with one season under his belt. Why did we pay so much for such a lengthy term?
A two year deal at $2 million per sounds about right for The Finger.

I also made a little image that day.  It rings more true today than ever.  Thanks Uncle Cliffy!

The-Finger
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