The Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens put aside their rivalry Sunday to make a trade just over 24 hours from the NHL trade deadline.
The deal involves the Canadiens sending top-six forward Tomas Plekanec to Toronto for a package of players and a draft pick. Here are the full details:
The @MapleLeafs announced that the hockey club has acquired forwards Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Rinat Valiev, Kerby Rychel and Toronto’s second round draft pick in 2018.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 25, 2018
The Canadiens keeps 50% of Tomas Plekanec salary. It's the maximum allowed.
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) February 25, 2018
The Canadiens are in the midst of an awful season and could be headed for a rebuild — they’re not far off from one as it currently stands. They have stockpiled a total of nine draft picks for June’s draft, including four second-round selections.
The Leafs have won four straight games and sit one point ahead of the rival Boston Bruins for second place in the Atlantic Division after Saturday night’s 4-3 victory over the B’s (Boston does have five games in hand, though).
Plekanec is not having a great year offensively with 24 points (six goals 18 assists) through 60 games, but he does give a young Leafs squad 87 games of playoff experience and quality defensive play at center. This was a worthwhile gamble for a Leafs team hoping to reach the second round of the playoffs or further after last season’s first-round exit.
