Maple Leafs recoup 2023 1st-round pick and acquire defencemen Schenn, Gustafsson
Oilers bolster blue line with Ekholm from Predators; ship Puljujarvi to Hurricanes
The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to wheel and deal before Friday's NHL trade deadline.
The club shipped Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals for fellow defenceman Erik Gustafsson and a 2023 first-round draft pick on Tuesday before dealing forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders for a third-rounder in 2024.
Toronto then acquired rearguard Luke Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a third round selection in this summer's draft.
Sandin, the 29th overall selection in 2018, has four goals and 20 points in 52 games this season.
The 22-year-old registered 10 goals and 48 points in 140 regular-season appearances with the Leafs. He scored once in five playoff contests.
Gustafsson has seven goals and 38 points in 61 games so far in 2022-23.
In 370 career games with Chicago, Calgary, Philadelphia, Montreal and Washington, the 30-year-old has put up 39 goals and 187 points. He's added eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 31 playoff contests.
The pick coming to the Leafs in Tuesday's deal was acquired by Washington from Boston in last week's trade that saw the Bruins get defenceman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from the Capitals.
Toronto included its 2023 first-rounder in the recent deal that brought forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from St. Louis in a three-team trade with Minnesota.
Schenn, 33, began his career with the Maple Leafs after they drafted the Saskatoon native fifth overall in 2008. Following four seasons in Toronto, Schenn suited up with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Arizona, Anaheim, Tampa Bay and Vancouver.
The stay-at-home blue liner has recorded 41 goals and 190 points in 918 NHL regular-season games while adding six points in 31 playoff games.
During his tenure with Tampa Bay, Schenn helped the Lightning capture back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2019-20 and 2020-21.
Schenn and Gustafsson, who was originally drafted by Edmonton in the fourth round in 2012, join a Toronto roster significantly reworked by general manager Kyle Dubas in recent weeks ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. ET deadline. The club looks to advance in the post-season for the first time since 2004.
On Monday, Dubas added defenceman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty from Chicago.
Engvall has 12 goals and 21 points in 58 games this season. A seventh-round pick in 2014, the 26-year-old had 42 goals and 83 points in 226 games with Toronto. He added four assists in 17 post-season appearances.
Dubas has shed a number of high draft picks in recent years — including the deals with St. Louis and Chicago — but got one back in the swap for Gustafsson, who's set to become an unrestricted free agent in July after earning $800,000 US in 2022-23.
Sandin is on the books for another season with a salary cap hit of $1.4 million before potentially hitting restricted free agency in the summer of 2024.
Oilers acquire Ekholm, ship Puljujarvi to Hurricanes
The Edmonton Oilers have acquired Mattias Ekholm from the Nashville Predators.
The Oilers also receive a sixth-round pick in 2024.
Headed the other way in the deal announced Tuesday are defenceman Tyson Barrie and prospect Reid Schaefer along with a first-round pick in 2023 and a fourth-round pick in 2024.
Nashville retains four per cent ($250,000) of Ekholm's salary per season through 2025-26.
The trade was the second of the day by Oilers general manager Ken Holland — and a big swing to help his blue line — after sending winger and 2016 fourth overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi to the Carolina Hurricanes in a salary cap-clearing move that helped pave the way for Ekholm's arrival in the Alberta capital.
Ekholm called the trade to the high-powered Oilers an "opportunity of a lifetime."
"Honestly, it's the biggest chance of my career to [get] myself a Stanley Cup ring," he said. "In this stage of my career to come to a team like this that obviously has expectations of winning, that's all I am really focused on right now."
The 32-year-old has five goals and 18 points in 57 games in 2022-23, but an organization with plenty of firepower led by Connor McDavid didn't get the Swede for his offensive prowess.
The Swede is averaging 21:44 of ice-time this season and ranked third on the Predators in hits (62) and takeaways (16) and fourth in blocked shots (76).
Ekholm has 62 goals and 268 points in 719 career games. He's added 35 points (six goals, 29 assists) in 75 playoff appearances.
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Barrie has 10 goals and 43 points this season. The 31-year-old, who signed with Edmonton in 2020, has 105 goals and 478 points in 744 career games with Colorado, Toronto and Edmonton.
He added 20 points (two goals, 18 assists) in 46 post-season contests.
Ekholm said he looks forward to playing with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who rank 1-2 in NHL scoring, as opposed to playing against them.
"It's the two best players in the world and to be able to be on the same team with them is obviously super exciting and I know they have a bunch of other guys that really can put the puck in the net," Ekholm said.
"As a defensive defenceman, I know that if we can get our defensive side of the game [going] and I am doing my job then I think we have a great chance of winning hockey games."
Schaefer, 19, was selected 32nd overall by the Oilers at the 2022 draft.
"Jesse possesses a great blend of size and skill, and he will add to the depth of our forward group," Hurricanes general manager Don Waddell said in a statement. "He has familiarity with some of our other Finnish players, and we see him as a great fit for our team and locker room."
Picked fourth overall by the Oilers in the 2016 NHL entry draft, the six-foot-four, 201-pound forward has struggled at times, amassing 51 goals and 61 assists in 317 regular-season games.
Holland said he spoke with Puljujarvi and his agent a couple of weeks ago and pitched them on having the Finn return to Edmonton on a one or two-year deal with an average annual value of about $1 million. Puljujarvi said he wanted "a fresh start instead," the GM said.
Puistola, 22, has yet to make his NHL debut after being selected by Carolina in the third round of the 2019 draft.
The six-foot, 175-pound forward from Tampere, Finland has 15 goals and 23 assists in Finland's Liiga this season.
The Oilers are set to host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
More moves coming?
"I think we're pretty set on our group — I don't think we're moving people out," Brind'Amour told reporters in Raleigh, N.C. "We'll see. The good news is what is it three, four days away and then it'll be over. We can all move on after that."
Trading Puljujarvi and not retaining any of his salary allows Edmonton to clear his $3 million off the books in preparation to make more moves. The Oilers, who are giving up more than three goals a game, are on the lookout for help on defence.
Vladislav Gavrikov from Columbus, Jakob Chychrun from Arizona and Mattias Ekholm from Nashville are all potential options. Gavrikov and Chychrun have each been held out of game action for weeks to avoid the risk of injury.
Any team acquiring a player already out with injury will have to be especially careful after the league sent a memo Tuesday to all 32 front offices warning them about increased scrutiny in that department. The league will be watching teams that acquire anyone on long-term injured reserve and waits until the start of the playoffs to activate those players, when the cap is no longer in effect.
Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay in 2021 and Chicago in 2015 famously used the LTIR loophole with Nikita Kucherov and Patrick Kane, respectively, to use up space while they were out before plugging them into the lineup for Game 1 of the first round.
Wild add Johansson, Nyquist
The Minnesota Wild acquired forward Marcus Johansson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third-round pick in 2024.
Johansson, 32, has recorded 28 points (13 goals, 15 assists) in 60 games this season. The pending unrestricted free agent was traded to Washington prior to last year's deadline by the Seattle Kraken.
Johansson will be embarking on his second stint with the Wild. He had 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in 36 games with the club during the 2020-21 season.
Johansson has amassed 157 goals and 435 points in 813 career games with the Capitals, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Wild and Kraken. He was selected 24th overall by Washington in 2009.
Minnesota also got injured winger Gustav Nyquist from Columbus for a 2023 fifth-round pick, which the Wild had two of after helping facilitate the Capitals-Bruins trade last week.
With files from The Associated Press, Field Level Media & CBC Sports
