Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Joel Edmundson from Washington Capitals for third- and fifth-round picks
The team in the hockey mecca of the world is deepening its blueline.
On Thursday, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Washington Capitals. In return, the Capitals receive the New York Islanders’ 2024 third-round pick, and the Chicago Blackhawks’ fifth-round pick in 2025.
Daily Faceoff’s insider Frank Seravalli broke the news first, and laid out the details of the trade.
Full trade, per sources:
To #Leafs: Joel Edmundson (50% retained)
To #allcaps: 2024 NYI 3rd Rd Pick, 2025 CHI 5th Rd Pick
Toronto still in play to make moves.@DailyFaceoff
On top of the Maple Leafs receiving a veteran blueliner, Washington is retaining 50 percent of Edmundson’s remaining cap hit for the final year of his four-year contract. The Brandon, Manitoba native originally signed the deal with an AAV of $3.5 million with the Montreal Canadiens in September 2020. When he was traded to the Caps on July 1 of last year, the Habs retained half of that salary.
All this to say, the Leafs are only paying Edmundson $875,000 to come to Toronto. This can give the Leafs a little more wiggle room to make another deal before Friday’s 3 p.m. ET deadline if general manager Brad Treliving elects to do so.
The 30-year-old had a modified no-trade clause in his contract that had him submit a 10-team no-trade list.
Edmundson joins a Toronto blueline that is a little depleted after Mark Giordano was placed on injured reserve earlier this week. Edmundson brings both experience and winning to the Leafs, as he was a member of the St. Louis Blues team that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in the 2018-19 season.
This is the third time Edmundson has been traded in his career. The first was in September 2019, when he was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes from St. Louis.
The Leafs acquired the Islanders’ pick when they sent Pierre Engvall to Long Island in February 28 of last season. The Hawks’ 2025 pick came to Toronto just the day before in a deal that sent Joey Anderson, Pavel Gogolev, and a couple of picks to Chicago, with the Leafs receiving Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, and another pick as well.
The Maple Leafs (36-18-8) are currently third in the Atlantic Division, eight points ahead of the fourth-place Detroit Red Wings, but 10 behind the Florida Panthers for first.
The Capitals (28-23-9) are fifth in the Metropolitan Division, seven points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for third, and seven out of the last Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Follow all the deals leading up to the March 8 deadline with Daily Faceoff’s 2024 NHL Trade Tracker.