If you follow the Toronto Maple Leafs and have never come across the word ‘abscission’, don’t feel bad. Full disclosure: it took some digging at this end to find the term. It means a natural process by which a plant sheds fruit, flowers, or leaves. Basically, the tree discards a member that is no longer necessary.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did some abscising this offseason when they decided to go in another direction and not sign ten players who were on the roster last year. A few of them were players that Toronto fans routinely complained about like Justin Holl and Alexander Kerfoot (though statistics show they were helpful and underrated).