as always, lots of players finding new homes.
As for the Toronto Maple Leafs, a total of six players were traded today.
One guy that we expected to move was
Lee Stempniak. With him becoming an unrestricted free agent after the season, it was not surprising to see him on the move. He'll join the Pittsburgh Penguins, where we hope that he'll contribute some offense. After all, we have him signed for two more years after this one, so rating-wise, it would be greatly appreciated if he could step up in Pittsburgh.
Another safe bet was defenseman
Andrew MacDonald, who is also slated to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. He moves from the New York Islanders to the Philadelphia Flyers, where he probably won't play as many minutes as in Long Island, but can play more to his strengths on the second or even third pairing.
When it comes to re-signing our unrestricted free agents,
Nick Schultz is not really high on our list. However, leaving the Edmonton Oilers is still something that we like to see and it'll be interesting to see what he can add to the Columbus Blue Jackets' blueline.
In one of the last trades of the day, forward
Calle Jarnkrok was part of the Legwand trade between the Detroit Red Wings and the Nashville Predators, amidst rumours that Jarnkrok could head back to Sweden this summer. However, we feel that Nashville can convince him of staying by giving him something that the Red Wings didn't - a chance in the NHL.
And finally, prospects
Nick Deslauriers and
Hudson Fasching both were traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Buffalo Sabres. We feel this is a good move for Deslauriers (who by the way is the last player that was already Leafs property when I took over as GM nearly two years ago), who has enjoyed a breakout season after being switched to forward and who probably has a better chance to make it to the NHL soon in Buffalo than he had in Los Angeles. Fasching, who is just coming off his freshman year at college, remains uneffected by the trade for now.
NHL Trade Deadline: Your Players
