The Toronto Maple Leafs traded defenseman Rasmus Sandin on February 28th to the Washington Capitals for Erik Gustafsson and a 2023 first-round pick.
Sandin, along with Timothy Liljegren, was thought to be part of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ future. Both players were re-signed to identical two-year deals worth $1.4 million a season. Liljegren signed right away, but Sandin held out in hopes of more money.
(Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)
Trading Sandin to the Capitals helped Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas regain a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL draft and helped him shave $600,000 off of the salary cap by replacing Sandin’s $1.4 million with Gustafsson’s $800,000. At the time of the trade, many thought that maybe Dubas would use the newly acquired first-round pick at the trade deadline. Dubas never found a deal that made sense, so Toronto still owns the pick.
Toronto has no 2023 draft picks until the fifth round, so Toronto will either use the first-round selection for themselves or trade it at the NHL draft to move down and acquire multiple picks. Moving down for more picks is something Dubas has done often.
Will the Trade Haunt the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Since joining the Washington Capitals, Rasmus Sandin is on the top defensive pair averaging 23:23 minutes of ice time. He has recorded one goal and four assists for five points in two games. Sandin is making the most of the opportunity that Washington is giving him.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)
I have always said that young players will never reach their full potential if you don’t play them enough. In Toronto, Sandin was not getting the ice time needed to reach his full potential. The more success Sandin finds elsewhere, the worse this trade will look for Dubas.
Erik Gustafsson had seven goals and 31 assists for 38 points in 61 games with Washington when Toronto acquired him. Since joining the Maple Leafs, his ice time has gone from 20:22 down to 11:57. He has no points in two games with Toronto and has not received much power-play time. Being the so-called quarterback of the power-play in Washington was his specialty. Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe should try replacing Morgan Rielly with Gustafsson on the number one power-play unit.
This trade looks bad for Dubas, but if Toronto finds playoff success, it won’t matter that much. It will be viewed as one of the puzzle pieces that needed to happen for Toronto to be able to move forward. Should Toronto fail to make it out of the first round again, this trade will look like a big mistake.