The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced a trade late Sunday night: winger Daniel Winnik and Anaheim’s 5th round pick in 2016 are headed to the Washington Capitals, in exchange for Washington’s 2nd round pick in 2016, Brooks Laich and Connor Carrick.
Daniel Winnik Traded to Washington
TRADE: @MapleLeafs acquire 2016 2nd-rnd pick, Connor Carrick & Brooks Laich from Washington for Daniel Winnik & Anaheim’s 2016 5th-rnd pick.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) February 29, 2016
Winnik, 30, signed with the Leafs last summer to a 2-year contract with a cap hit of $2.25 million. This is the second season in a row he has been traded out of Toronto at the deadline, as last year he was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2nd, a 4th, and Zach Sill. He re-signed with the Leafs after participating in the Penguins playoff run.
The Toronto native has 14 points in 56 games this season, in a primarily defensive role. He will be a significant addition to Washington’s penalty kill.
Coming back to Toronto is Brooks Laich, whose $4.5 million cap hit expires after the 2016-17 season. It had been speculated for several days that the Capitals were looking to offload his contract, and the Leafs had cap room to spare. Having Laich off the books before Monday suggests Washington GM Brian MacLellan will be working the phones on deadline day, now that his team has significantly more wiggle-room under the salary cap.
Big piece of this deal for #Caps: they can now add up to $2.2M in annual cap hit tomorrow without going into LTIhttps://t.co/ZC4rX3eP3U
— General Fanager (@generalfanager) February 29, 2016
The Capitals are stocking up for a deep playoff run, as the favourite to win the Eastern Conference. This cap room is very valuable to them, which likely allowed Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello to demand Connor Carrick in the deal.
Carrick is a decent defensive prospect with a top-4 ceiling, due to his skating and offensive abilities (15 points in 46 games with the AHL’s Hershey Bears). This counterpoints his size, at only 5’11”.
The Leafs still have 12 picks in the 2016 draft, having surrendered their 5th. They still have over $8 million in cap space, and will therefore be able to take on more large contracts as cap dumps in deadline deals.
We will have more details on this trade as it develops. Follow @LastWordonPuck and Lastwordonsports.com for all of your NHL trade deadline news and analysis.
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