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It does not seem to matter if it is Brian Burke, Dave Nonis or Lou Lamoriello, Toronto Maple Leafs general managers seem to have a friendly trade partner in Anaheim Ducks GM Bob Murray.
Since Burke left the Ducks in November 2008 to take over as Leafs GM, the clubs have combined for 17 trades, the latest being the early morning swap of goaltender Jhonas Enroth for a 2018 seventh rounder.
The deal marks the sixth trade since 2008 between the two clubs involving a goalie, which include such immortals as Justin Pogge, Joey MacDonald and Vesa Toskala.
Trades made between Toronto and Anaheim since 2008
1/7/09 – 2010 6th round pick for F Brad May
8/10/09 – G Justin Pogge for 2011 conditional 6th round pick
1/31/10 - F Jason Blake and G Vesa Toskala for G Jean-Sebastien Giguere
3/3/10 – G Joey MacDonald for 2011 7th round pick
6/26/10 – 2010 5th round pick for F Mike Brown
2/9/11 – D Francois Beauchemin for D Jake Gardner, F Joffrey Lupul and a conditional 2013 4th round pick.
2/15/11 – 2011 conditional 7th round pick for F Aaron Voros
6/24/11 – 2011 1st round (30th overall) and 2nd round pick (39th overall) for 2011 1st round pick (22nd overall)
6/25/11 - 2011 6th round pick for 2012 6th round pick
1/3/12 – F Luca Caputi for F Nicolas Deschamp
2/27/12 – F Dale Mitchell for D Mark Fraser
3/15/13 – C David Steckel for F Ryan Lasch and 2014 7th round pick
11/16/13 – D Jesse Blacker, 2014 2nd round pick and 2014 7th round pick for C Peter Holland and F Brad Staubitz
3/2/15 – D Korbinian Holzer for D Eric Brewer and 2016 5th round pick
6/20/16 – 2016 1st round pick and 2017 2nd round pick for G Frederik Andersen
7/8/16 – G Jonathan Bernier for a conditional 2017 7th round pick
1/11/17 – G Jhonas Enroth for a 2018 7th round pick
The intriguing aspect of the long-standing pipeline is that the two clubs appear to have the ingredients for a bigger deal before March 1 if the Leafs make winger James van Riemsdyk available.
The Ducks are in the middle of the pack offensively with 115 goals and need to add a scoring winger to play with either Ryan Getzlaf or Ryan Kesler, but are tight against the cap and would have to make room to fit van Riemsdyk’s $4.25 Million salary in their payroll.
Anaheim is extremely deep on the blueline, a position that Toronto needs to upgrade to become a legitimate playoff contender. Murray locked up blueliners Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen on long-term extensions, has All-Star Cam Fowler under contract until 2018 and has Josh Manson and youngsters Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore waiting in the wings.
The expansion draft provides a dilemma for Murray, who has to protect veteran Kevin Bieksa because of his no-movement clause, which would force the Ducks to protect eight skaters instead of seven forward and three defensemen, and possibly exposing someone like Jacob Slifverberg.
Even buying out Bieksa of his final year would force Anaheim to expose the 6’3” 215 lb Manson, who is 25 years old.
The Leafs have the ability to retain up to 50% of van Riemsdyk’s salary to make it easier for Anaheim to fit him under the cap and Toronto would likely accept a young blueliner in a potential deal.
There are a lot of moving parts in this scenario. If the Leafs remain competitive in the race for an Eastern Conference playoff spot, will Lamoriello undercut his team’s chances by moving one of their key forwards?
Or will the Leafs GM opt to wait until the summer, when the return for van Riemsdyk with just a year left before being an unrestricted free agent could be significantly less.
Whenever Toronto decide to shop the big winger, the open lines of communication and frequency of trades between the Leafs and Anaheim could be factors in another deal being consummated.
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