The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson on retained salary from the Washington Capitals for third-round and fifth-round picks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson on retained salary from the Washington Capitals for third-round and fifth-round picks.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
Washington retained 50 percent of Edmundson’s remaining salary, which had already been retained 50 percent by the Montreal Canadiens in a 2020 trade. With 75 percent of his overall $3.5-million cap hit retained, he’ll only count for $875,000 against the Leafs' salary cap this season. Edmundson, 30, will be a UFA at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.
In 44 games this season, the 6-foot-5, stay-at-home defenseman has five assists, six points, 59 hits and 49 shot blocks while averaging 16:26 of ice time per game.
The 6-foot-5 left-handed defenseman is a physical, stay-at-home player who won a Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, when he played on the team’s second pairing alongside Alex Pietrangelo.
While Edmundson is quite similar to the Leafs’ most recent acquisition, Ilya Lyubushkin, he’s a much better puckhandler than given credit for. He’s also an experienced penalty-killer, something Toronto’s 21st-ranked penalty kill needs after Mark Giordano was placed on injured reserve with a concussion.
The move further signifies what GM Brad Treliving wants his defensive corps to look like. The last four defensemen he has traded for — dating back to his time with Calgary — have been tall and long defenders. Whether you agree with the move or not, there’s no denying the Leafs need more muscle to clear out bodies from in front of the net.
As to where Toronto deploys Edmundson, it’d be hard to envision him playing any higher in the lineup than the third pair. The Maple Leafs could conceivably play him on his off-side alongside Morgan Rielly, but Lyubushkin played with him during his last stint with Toronto in 2021-22.
Toronto now has $369,166 left in cap space, according to PuckPedia.
After moving Edmundson and Anthony Mantha, Capitals GM Brian Maclellan has now acquired a second-round pick, a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick in less than 48 hours. Given that the Capitals retained 50 percent of the departing player's contract in each of the deals, they have one more retention spot to weaponize ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. ET NHL trade deadline.
More to come, including video reaction. For more analysis, visit The Hockey News' Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals sites.