Leafs Sign Defenceman Kevin Gravel For One Year, $700,000

As per Frank Seravalli of TSN, the Leafs are making another depth defence acquisition.

#Leafs are signing D Kevin Gravel, formerly of #Oilers, to a one-year deal worth $700k.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 1, 2019

Gravel is a big tweener AHL/NHL defenceman, 27 years old, and he shoots left, if you were wondering. Nothing about him screams that he’s expected to be an NHL player, although the topsy-turvy state of the Leafs’ defence makes it hard to rule anything out authoritatively. Still, the most likely result is that he provides some veteran solidity to a Marlies’ defence group that is poised to lose both Vincent Loverde (to AHL Hartford) and Calle Rosen (to the big club) next season.

If he does wind up playing NHL minutes, well, he can do it and not implode, we figure:

He's a solid No. 7, in that he can step into a third-pairing without issue. https://t.co/zRdykYKIYI
— Jonathan Willis (@JonathanWillis) July 1, 2019

In short, he doesn’t answer any big questions, but this looks like one of the low-level moves you make to keep your organization rolling. Cheers to Kyle Dubas and, more probably, Lawrence Gilman.

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