Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski - USA Today Sports
On Friday afternoon, just an hour before the trade deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs received some bad news, with the Anaheim Ducks claiming defenseman William Lagesson off of waivers, eliminating another depth option in Toronto.
With the additions of Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin to the blueline in Toronto, it made Lagesson expandable, but I'm sure the Leafs would have much preferred to have him clear waivers so that they could assign him to the Marlies to maintain their positional depth.
The 28-year-old Swedish defenseman can play both sides of the blueline and is a pending UFA come July 1st on a cheap $775k deal. He dressed in 30 games with the Maple Leafs and chipped in 4 assists while averaging over 14 minutes of ice time per game.
On a positive note, with the waiver claim, the Leafs have cleared a roster spot ahead of the trade deadline and will now gain $775k cap space and will gain some additional flexibility for more potential trades ahead of the deadline.