So searched the Internet looking for some info on this great "find" by the Leafs. He has only 94 NHL games under his belt and 252 AHL games. His salary last season was $475,000 so his new contract will by 7 times that. An Avs blog In The Cheap Seats has this to say about the signing:
First of all, the following has nothing to do with Jeff Finger. I am a fan and will try to watch him the two or three times next year that Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts a Leafs game. I do think the Leafs overpaid for him, but a lot of teams overpaid for far bigger stiffs yesterday.
Jeff Finger is a lot of things. “Shutdown defensemen” is not one of them. I find it amusing that Cliff Fletcher takes fans to task for not having seen Finger, but then seems to imply that he hasn’t seen him either. Instead, he’s relying on the word of a currently-unemployed coach. It’s okay, Cliff. As long as Joel Quenneville says he’s one of the top 5 defensemen, you’ll be fine. If there’s anything Quenneville showed us in Colorado, it’s that he’s a suberb judge of talent. I’m sure the fact that he benched Finger for a while in the playoffs after he misplayed a puck was just because that top 5 D-man needed a little break. And in the Detroit series, when the cameras seemed to catch a red-faced Quenneville screaming “what the fuck are you doing”, what he really was saying was “you’re doing a hell of a job, Brownie”. Maybe I’m just not all that good at reading lips.
Here’s the sentence that really threw me: “[Leafs' coach] Ron Wilson told me he was always on the ice in San Jose games against Joe Thornton”. Which begs the following question: was Ron Wilson watching any of those games?
It’s true that Finger spent some time against Iginla (and had some success, including Iggy into taking some really stupid penalties), but I don’t think he saw a ton of the Sedins. Simply put, the Avalanche generally had other guys - Brett Clark, Scott Hannan and, eventually, Adam Foote - out there against the opponents’ top forwards. That’s not to say he couldn’t have done well in that role, but, again, that’s not really the point.
Toronto fans, my heart goes out to you. You’ve got a GM who apparently is using an ex-coach who can’t judge talent as a scout and you’ve got a coach who seemed to be watching a different game than the one he was coaching. Uh, good luck with that.
From the Denver Post:
I’m just absolutely amazed, though, that the Maple Leafs gave Jeff Finger four year and $14 million. No wonder that team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1968. Unbelievable.
I liked Fingy but….aren’t you kidding me? This is a guy who was gassed after 20 seconds of a shift and was a healthy scratch for most of the postseason, after he screwed up on what should have been an icing call in Game 3 of the first round.
And lastly from Jibblescribbit:
Jeff Finger The Avs tried hard to re-sign Finger, but after the first day of free agency it's easy to see why they weren't able to. He was due an unexpected pay-day, to the tune of 4-year $3.5M/year. That may be the day's most shocking contract.Finger's agent played the market perfectly. If you look at Toronto's defense Finger will fit in perfectly because he is exactly what they need: A physical presence who can play pretty solid positional defense and block shots. Finger's agent also deserves commendation for seeking out a team willing to spend money and milking it for all it's worth.
Despite being a great fit for the Leafs, Finger was overpaid (again nice job by Finger's agent). Finger is 28 and only a vet of a season and a half. He's a good defenseman, possibly top 4, but not a top-2 guy. The Leafs gave him top 2-3 money. One regret Finger may ultimately have is that the expectations that come with that hefty contract in Toronto may make life miserable. The media scrutiny surrounding Toronto might not be worth it, and the Leafs management has recently been throwing their players (like Sundin) under the bus in order to cover their incompetence.
