The exodus continues from the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight as Daniel Winnik has been traded – for the second consecutive deadline – this time to the Washington Capitals. With another year left on his 2.25M contract, Winnik was not in the same “definitely gone at the deadline” grouping as other soon to be UFA’s Shawn Matthias, Roman Polak, Nick Spalling and James Reimer. That didn’t save him from GM Lou Lamoriello’s gaze however, as he was shipped out all the same to the Washington Capitals in another future assets trade.
The trade continues the philosophy of getting as many draft picks as possible to give Leafs Draft Guru Mark Hunter and the Leafs’ scouting staff as much ammunition as possible heading into the June NHL Entry Draft.