Sandin has enjoyed his time in Washington and recently signed a five-year, $23 million extension with the club.
Sandin has enjoyed his time in Washington and recently signed a five-year, $23 million extension with the club.
Rasmus Sandin felt a little bit lost entering Scotiabank Arena for the first time as a member of the visitors.
The former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman will play in his first game in the city since the club traded him away to the Washington Capitals last year.
"I had a great time, I had a great time here in Toronto, there's nothing but great memories," Sandin said on Thursday morning. "Toronto will always be a special place for me and my family."
Drafted by the Maple Leafs in the first round (29th) overall in the 2018 NHL Draft, Sandin was seen as a key part of the team's future. But things in the final year when he fully recovered from a knee injury but was not selected to play in the 2022 NHL playoffs. Later that summer, Sandin and the Leafs were embroiled in a difficult contract negotiations that forced the Swedish defenseman to miss part of training camp before eventually settling on a two-year, $2.8 million deal.
With a need to shed a little bit of cap space while retaining an asset, the Leafs acquired the Boston Bruins' first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (Easton Cowan) and veteran defenseman Erik Gustafsson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Sandin, who had found a fit.
Under former Maple Leafs assistant coach Spencer Carbery, who now runs the bench in D.C., Sandin has played an important role regularly slotted on the team's top-four defense and matching up against the opposition's best players.
It's why the Capitals and Sandin were able to come to a long-term pact fairly quickly.
"For them to have that belief in me to sign me for five years, I think that shows a lot of how much they believe in me and want me in this organization right now," Sandin said. "That's very exciting and I'm very honored to get that deal as well."
As they've done for other players, it's expected that the Leafs will have some sort of acknowledgement for Sandin during a TV timeout. Sandin has three goals and 20 assists in 63 games this season while averaging 21:20 of ice time. Sandin averaged just 17:59 of ice time in his four seasons with the Leafs.
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