Toronto, ON). The Wolfpack signed veteran center's Mike Modano and Doug Weight to fill out the center position on the squad. Toronto was lacking depth at center with the recent trade of Henrik Zetterberg so they went with proven center icemen to go along with young center David Krejci and recent acquisition Matthew Lombardi.
Other signings include all around forward Brian Rolston who projects as a major contributor to special teams and 5 on 5. Checker Craig Adams was added to provide PK help and should see plenty of time on the 4th line.
On the backend Toronto added solid tough defenders Ruslan Salei and Boris Valabik. These two rugged rearguards are projected to backup a top 4 defense core that includes newcomer Tyler Myers, Andrei Markov, Ryan Whitney, and Brandon Coburn, acquired in the Rick Nash deal.
Finally, Toronto added an agitator Tanner Glass for potential minutes on the 4th line.
GM Thom Welch had this to say about the busy off season, "we are happy with the squad on paper, we just need the players to fulfill their end of the bargain. With Nik Backstrom we have a world class stopper that should solidify are club with his first full season in Toronto. We are thrilled with our selection of Tyler Myers and project him as one of the best defenders in the league. All our trades have also trimmed our payroll allowing for roster flexibility throughout the season. We think our top 4 centerman of Krejci, Lombardi, Modano, and Adams/Weight are comparable to any in our division and look to the pre-season to finalize our four lines. Our top six forwards are as good as any in the league with Kovalchuk, St. Louis and Kessel providing serious goal scoring potential and excitement for our fans."
Toronto has certainly made a lot of changes, it remains to be seen whether they better the results of last year's 114 points, however Welch said," we had a lot of points during the regular season but didn't have much playoff success, these changes in chemistry will hopefully make a major difference."
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