The Toronto Maple Leafs had one of the busiest weekends in recent memory.
Not only did the Toronto Maple Leafs play an excellent, and incredibly entertaining game against the Nashville Predators (despite taking the loss) but they signed a player, waived a player, traded a beloved homegrown player and traded for a former Norris Trophy winner.
So, not exactly your typical weekend, but hold on to your butts, because the trade deadline is still several hours away.
Let’s recap.
Toronto Maple Leafs Weekend Moves
The big news of the weekend was obviously the Mark Giordano trade. The Leafs pick up an aging but still effective ex-Norris Trophy winner who gives them, at worst, a very solid defensive player for a team that can definitely use one.
There’s even a bit of upside because 37 really isn’t that old for a guy in tip-top shape, and Giordano’s legendary leadership, experience and all-round demeaner are only going to help. Not the homerun that makes the team instantly better that I’m still hoping for, but a solid add at a tiny cost.
Given what other teams paid for worse players, the Leafs have to be very happy as Giordano is much better than Josh Manson or Ben Chiarot and he came cheaper.
In less happy news, the Leafs sent the homegrown Travis Dermot to Vancouver for a third. He never quite seemed to reach his potential, but he was an excellent, even high-end, 3rd pairing player and it’s sad to see him go, even if it was necessary.
In goalie news, the Toronto Maple Leafs placed Petr Mrazek on waivers. If he clears, they can demote him and save a little bit of his cap hit, and if he is picked up, they’ve get $3.8 million cap hit off the books. He’s been terrible, and you have to admire the Leafs for admitting it and moving on.
To make up for ditching Mrazek, the Leafs signed Harri Sateri to a one year contract. Sateri is from the KHL and recently won Gold at the Olympics with Finland. If he clears waivers he will join the Leafs. (stats naturalstattrick.com).
Kyle Clifford was also put on waivers, which was sort of weird considering he recently signed a contract extension. The team also sent Nick Robertson to the Marlies, but that may or may not be just to manipulate the cap, who really knows at this point?
This weekend has to been seen as a successful one for the Leafs. They recouped a significant portion of the price they paid for Giordano by trading their #8 defenseman, and improved their team quite a lot without touching their roster, or any of their best trade assets (first round picks, Top Prospects).
The Leafs have a bit of cap room left, and could potentially clear lots more with Mrazek, Holl and Kerfoot if they wanted to really make a splash. They still have all their assets so at least theoretically they could still make a big move.