Mark Fraser Released From PTO; Signing With Ottawa

In a matter of about 24 hours, the Leafs have done house-cleaning on all four of the players that were attending their training camp as Pro Tryouts.  Early yesterday the Leafs released forwards Curtis Glencross and Devin Setoguchi.  Later on in the day, the team signed Brad Boyes, who was also in camp on a PTO, to a one-year deal worth $700k.  Today the team cleared things up with its last remaining player on a PTO – former Leaf and Marlie Mark Fraser – releasing him from his tryout.

That said, this appears to be largely a technicality, as according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston the move was made because Fraser found work elsewhere.  In other words, this was more-so Fraser wanting to be released from his PTO with the Leafs so that he could sign elsewhere.  In this sense, the move seems largely mutual, as if the Leafs felt strongly about keeping him they likely would’ve pushed to sign him to a contract of their own.

Fraser’s chances of making the team were never great, and it’s possible he was trying out for a spot with the Marlies as much as he was for a spot on the Leafs.  The big club already appears to have several defenders ahead of him on the depth chart, namely the likes of Stephane Robidas and Scott Harrington who one can assume were vying for the same sort of depth role that Fraser was.  On the Marlies, Fraser had some combination of Harrington, T.J. Brennan, Stuart Percy, Viktor Loov, Petter Granberg, Andrew Campbell, and Rinat Valiev to compete for ice-time with.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team Fraser is signing with is believed to be the Ottawa Senators.