Report: Maple Leafs to Re-Acquire Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin From Ducks For Draft Picks
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs are acquiring the Russian defenseman with 75 percent of his salary cap hit retained in exchange for third and sixth-round draft picks.
Ilya Lyubushkin is reportedly back with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs are re-acquiring the defenseman in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks. The deal sees 75 percent of Lybushkin's $2.75 million salary cap hit retained by the Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes. Anaheim gets Toronto’s 2025 third-round draft pick, while Carolina will receive Toronto’s 2024 sixth-round pick.
The Anaheim Ducks announced on Thursday that the defenseman was pulled from the team's lineup against the San Jose Sharks due to "ongoing trade discussions."
That's when multiple hockey insiders suggested it was the Maple Leafs who were in pursuit of Lyubushkin.
TSN's Darren Dreger provided more details that say that the Hurricanes would also be involved as part of a three-way deal.
Lyubushkin, a right-handed defenseman who played 31 regular games and seven playoff games with the Leafs in 2022, will only cost the Maple Leafs $687,500 in cap space as a result of the double retention.
The Leafs were forced to use forward Mitch Marner on right defense for much of their 4-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday after Mark Giordano sustained a head injury in the first period.
Lyubushkin had some chemistry in 2022 playing with Morgan Rielly and is likely to get a shot there again when he eventually arrives in Toronto. Timothy Liljegren (undisclosed) and Conor Timmins (mononucleosis), a pair of righthanded shots were not available for the team's last two games, forcing the Leafs to dress six defensemen who all shoot left.
An unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the 29-year-old has four assists in 55 games with the Ducks this season. He's mostly played third-pair minutes this season Toronto is hoping a return to Toronto will bring a better side of his game they are quite familiar with.
Update: The trade is official. Toronto receives Lyubushkin and Kirill Slepets (an unsigned draft choice from Carolina) and they send a 2025 third-round pick to the Ducks and a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Hurricanes.
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