Toronto Maple Leafs: Nick Foligno Instant Trade Analysis

To the Columbus Blue Jackets

General manager Jarmo Kekäläinen has been collecting draft picks to help the Columbus Blue Jackets rebuild around their young players. They added two of them from Toronto in exchange for the highly-coveted Foligno.

The Jackets collected a 2021 first-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick. The first-rounder will likely be a late one, considering the Leafs are a top team in the NHL. That is unless the team collapses in the first round of the playoffs yet again.

Kekäläinen retained 50 percent of Foligno’s contract so he can fit in Toronto’s salary cap. The fourth-rounder was likely the compensation for the retention.

Columbus now has three first-round picks in this upcoming draft. That includes their own, what Toronto just gave them, and one from the Tampa Bay Lighting after trading away David Savard on Saturday.

To the San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks were brought in as a third-party team to help the Leafs workout their cap situation. The Jackets traded Foligno to the Sharks to retain another 50 percent of his contract, leaving only 25 percent of it on Toronto’s books.

General Manager Doug Wilson added a fourth-round pick in next year’s draft for his troubles. It adds to the fifth-rounder Wilson got by trading goaltender Devan Dubnyk to the Colorado Avalanche.

The Sharks still have $9 million in cap space left and will likely add more draft picks by retaining other contracts. I don’t know, let’s say a team trading for Taylor Hall.