Mark Fraser’s time with the Toronto Maple Leafs has come to an end.
The Leafs dealt the defenceman to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for forward Cameron Abney and forward Teemu Hartikainen.
Fraser, 27, has struggled with the Leafs this season. In 19 games, the Ottawa native has one assist, 33 penalty minutes with a minus-8 rating. He had not dressed in the past 11 games.
In Edmonton, he will be reunited with former Toronto Marlies coach Dallas Eakins, who has been looking to add toughness and size to the Oilers’ blue-line.
The move will create salary cap space for the Leafs as Fraser has a cap hit of $1.275 million.
#MapleLeafs went from around $370K in cap space to $1.65M with today's trade — enough to get Bolland off LTIR with a few demotions.
— CapGeek (@capgeek) January 31, 2014
Moving Fraser gives Leafs a little wiggle room, $1.125m one-way deal off the books. He's UFA this summer.
— Damien Cox (@DamoSpin) January 31, 2014
Abney, 22, is currently playing in the ECHL with the Bakersfield Condors. In 24 games, the six-foot-5 forward has two goals, three assists, and 64 penalty minutes.
Hartikainen, 23, has 13 goals, 14 assists, and 26 penalty minutes with the KHL’s Ufa Salavat Yulayev this season. He was originally drafted by Edmonton in the sixth round (163rd overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft.
