Toronto acquired veteran defencemen Erik Gustafsson from the Washington Capitals.Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Kyle Dubas keeps wheeling and dealing in an attempt to bolster the Maple Leafs roster for a playoff run and in turn hold onto his job as general manager.
Toronto acquired veteran defencemen Erik Gustafsson and Luke Schenn and a first-round pick on Tuesday in what has already been a frantic week leading up to Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
The club has not won a playoff series since 2004 nor a Stanley Cup since 1967 and sits in second place in the Atlantic Division, far behind Boston with a game coming up on Wednesday night in Edmonton.
In the biggest moves of the day, future Hall of Famer Patrick Kane went from Chicago to the New York Rangers, left wing Marcus Johansson headed to Minnesota from Washington, the Wild picked up injured forward Gustav Nyquist from Columbus and defenceman Mattias Ekholm swapped a Nashville sweater for Oilers blue, orange and white.
In the latter trade, Edmonton gave up a bounty: defenceman Tyson Barrie; left wing Reid Schaefer, who was their first-round pick last summer; a first-round pick this year and a fourth-round selection in 2024. Barrie was in his third season with Edmonton and has scored more than 40 points each year. He is the first Edmonton defenceman to do so in three successive seasons since Paul Coffey.
Defencemen Erik Karlsson of San Jose and Jakob Chychrun of Arizona are among the most prominent players still available as the clock winds down on the trade market. It looks more and more, however, as if Karlsson, the leading candidate to win the Norris Memorial Trophy as the league’s best blueliner, will complete the season in California. He has an expensive long-term contract that has complicated attempts to make a quick deal.
The additions of Gustafsson and Schenn strengthen a defensive unit in Toronto that has been riddled with injuries since the season began
Gustafsson, 30, had seven goals and 31 assists in 61 games for the Capitals in 2022-23 in one of the best years of his career. He has played 370 regular-season games for five teams since he broke into the league in 2015 and automatically becomes the leading scorer on the Maple Leafs’ blueline. He has nine more points than Morgan Rielly.
To get him, Toronto parted with fan favourite Rasmus Sandin, the 22-year-old defenceman who was chosen 29th in the first round in 2018. As part of the trade, the club also acquired the Boston Bruins’ first-round selection in this summer’s entry draft, while in a separate deal on Tuesday, the team sent forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders for their third-round pick next year.
Sandin held out at the beginning of training camp and had four goals and 20 points during the current campaign. He had signed a contract for two years at US$1.4-million a season.
Schenn, 33, was Toronto’s first-round pick in 2008 and has played in 918 games in the NHL over 15 years. He had three goals and 18 assists this season for Vancouver and was swapped for Toronto’s third-round draft pick this year.
His value comes from his experience and rugged demeanour. He leads the NHL with 258 hits and should bring grit to a team that has been accused of being soft and has withered in the post-season. Noel Acciari, also acquired recently, is second on the team with 187 hits.
The moves should strengthen the Maple Leafs defence, which has been riddled with injuries since the season began. On Monday, the club acquired another veteran D-man in 29-year-old Jake McCabe from the Blackhawks along with forward Sam Lafferty and two conditional draft picks in exchange for Toronto’s first-round selection in 2025, its second-round pick in 2026 and forwards Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev.
Chicago is tied with Anaheim for second-to-last in the NHL with 47 points. The Blue Jackets currently lead the race to draft Connor Bedard, the star of Canada’s world junior team who is certain to be chosen first over all this summer.
It has been a long time since Toronto has been this aggressive with the trade deadline looming. It is a sign that it feels good about its team – which is 37-15-8 – and clearly signals an all-in philosophy from Dubas.
The latter assumed the role of general manager before the 2018-19 season and is in the final year of his contract. Since taking over, the club has improved incrementally but is yet to get past the first round in the post-season.
Before this, Dubas pulled one of the biggest trades in Toronto history last month when he acquired Ryan O’Reilly from the St. Louis Blues. O’Reilly has three goals and five points in five games since he joined the Maple Leafs.
In a matter of weeks he has acquired six players and subtracted three from the roster.