Mike Komisarek has been known as a defensive defenseman for much of his career. His highest scoring total was 19 points for the Montreal Canadiens seven years ago. Now his defensive game has started to slip, and after a year in which he barely played, the Toronto Maple Leafs are cutting bait.
The Leafs announced today that they would use a compliance buyout on the Long Island-born defenseman. He played only four games this season for the NHL club, while spending seven games (along with six in the post-season) with the AHL Toronto Marlies. He was injured and/or scratched for much of his tenure with the Leafs, playing 75 games once in a season (2010-11) and never playing more than 45 again in the five-year, $22.5 million contract he signed with the club in 2009.
The buyout leaves Toronto with approximately $19 million in cap space, though they currently only have 13 players on their roster, so some work will be done to eat away at that number.