The Toronto Maple Leafs made their first significant move leading up to the March 2nd trade deadline, jumping out in front of most of the league's sellers by sending pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Cody Franson and forward Mike Santorelli to the Nashville Predators for their 2015 1st round pick, 20-year-old forward prospect Brendan Leipsic and veteran Olli Jokinen.
The deal marks the beginning of the expected tear down and full rebuild mentioned in a report by the Globe and Mail’s Cathal Kelly late last week and is a proactive move by Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan and GM Dave Nonis, who moved two of the most sought after rent-a-players more than two weeks before the trade deadline to lock in a first round pick and a young prospect, as well as subtracting two of Toronto’s more effective players that will help position the club to get a high draft pick in the upcoming NHL Draft.
“You never know if you wait longer if it's going to get better or if it’s going to drop off." Nonis said in a conference call following the Sunday morning deal. “(Franson and Santorelli are)both good players. You do run the risk of the market changing and you run the risk of injury. We feel that the pieces that we got were good.…
Nonis and Predators GM David Poile started discussions about a possible trade after a 4-3 Toronto loss in Nashville on February 3. The potential for a deal was strong enough that Nonis remained in the Music City another two days.
“It was our goal to get as high a pick as possible and to get what we feel is a very good prospect along with it.… Nonis said. “The further you go down the draft list, the harder it is but there has been pretty good players picked in the 20’s in the last couple years and it is our goal to do that this year with that pick."
The deal is similar to the Ryan Miller-Steve Ott trade made by the Buffalo Sabres and St. Louis Blues last February in that Toronto moved the two former Preds draft picks together and took back an expiring contract in Jokinen to get Nashville’s top pick in what is expected to be a deep, talent-laden draft.
The 36-year-old Jokinen has been a disappointment for Nashville, with just three goals and three assists to show for his one-year, $2.5 Million contract. According to TSN's Darren Dreger, the 19-year NHL veteran is not pleased to be moved to the rebuilding Leafs and will likely be fliiped to a team looking for forward depth before the trade deadline.
The 20-year-old Leipsic was selected in the third round of the 2012 Draft(89th overall) and has played well for Nashville's AHL affiliate in Milwaukee(7 goals, 28 assists in 47 games) in his first professional season after a prolific junior career with the WHL's Portland Winterhawks.
The 5’10… 177 lb native of Winnipeg, MB scored 211 points and 214 penalty minutes in his final two years with Portland and is known for possessing a high skill set and an uncanny ability to get underneath the skin of the opposition.
Leipsic fits profile of TOR DPP Mark Hunter type of player: smart, skilled, competitive, not overly concerned about size. Call it LDN model.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 15, 2015Ryan Kennedy of the Hockey News featured Leipsic last September, referring to the young center as the most annoying prospect in hockey. He is expected to be assigned to the AHL Toronto Marlies in time for their game against the Binghamton Senators at Air Canada Center on Monday.
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Besides unrestricted free agents Daniel Winnik, David Booth, Korbinian Holzer and the recently added Olli Jokinen, the names of Tyler Bozak, Dion Phaneuf and Roman Polak have gained momentum as possible trade targets in recent days.
HNIC's Damien Cox and Elliotte Friedman mentioned on Saturday that interest has picked up on the 28-year-old Bozak, who has three years remaining at $4.2 Million per season and that Los Angeles and Detroit are doing their due diligence on Phaneuf, who is in year one of a seven-year, $49 Million deal.
Reports on Saturday indicate that Leafs officials, including Asst GM/Director of Player Personnel Mark Hunter was in Manchester, NH to watch the Monarchs - Bridgeport raises the speculation that a deal involving the Kings is still possible.
Friedman also reported on Sunday that Toronto is receiving calls on the hard hitting Polak, who is signed through 2016 for an economical $2.9 Million.
Early games are done... In case you missed 'em here are your Saturday headlines with @FriedgeHNIC and @DamoSpin: http://t.co/zihahgmLED
— Stroumboulopoulos (@strombo) February 15, 2015*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
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