TRADE ALERT: Leafs trade Nick Ritchie to Arizona
During the 2nd intermission of the Leafs' game against the St. Louis Blues on Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman suggested that a trade could be in the works between the Leafs and the Coyotes, centering around Ilya Lyubushkin and Nick Ritchie.
Shortly thereafter, Friedman had tweeted out that it the Toronto/Arizona deal could end up being a bigger deal, but did not provide any details beyond that. Well, the deal just went through.
Per the Toronto Maple Leafs' official Twitter account, the Buds have acquired forward Ryan Dzingel and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin in exchange for forward Nick Ritchie and their choice between the Leafs' 3rd rounder in 2023 or their 2nd round pick in 2025.
Dzingel, 29, was originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators back in 2011 (204th overall) and has appeared in 398 career NHL games with the Ottawa Senators, Columbus Blue Jackets, Carolina Hurricanes and Arizona Coyotes.
Dzingel is a bit of a Swiss Army knife, in that he can play center or either wing. We know that Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe like a player who can give them some flexibility. Dzingel is a nice depth add for the Buds.
In 27-year-old Ilya Lyubushkin, Dubas has provided the Leafs with a big, bruising defensive defenseman to bolster the right side of their blueline. Think of Lyubushkin as the Russian version of Zach Bogosian. He's not going to shoot the lights out, but he's not shy about laying the body and will take pleasure in clearing the front of the net for the Buds.
Both Dzingel and Lyubushkin are pending UFA's, with Dzingel carrying a cap hit of $1.1M, while Lyubushkin comes in at $1.35M against the cap.
The Leafs are finally rid of Nick Ritchie and his $2.5M cap hit for the remainder of this season AND next season. Cap flexibility is very important and the Leafs not only upgraded their D, but they also added a serviceable depth forward and actually SAVED themselves $500K this season and $2.5M next season.
This is a HUGE win for the Leafs!
