NHL trade deadline day live tracker: Leafs make early move for Foligno; Taylor Hall to Boston
It's the greatest four words in Canadian sports - NHL trade deadline day." Join us while we keep track of all the rumours, moves and reaction in the NHL with the trade deadline looming at 3 p.m. ET. Check back often as there'll be constant updates.
12:05 p.m.: The Star's Dave Feschuk says on the Star's Twitter Space chat that Leafs president Brendan Shanahan stepped in after the team was eliminated by the Columbus Blue Jackets last year and said that the franchise realized that it needed to get better. Work ethic was something that needed to be valued. See below on how to join this live chat now.
Noon: OK, we're live for our Twitter Space chat right now. See below on how to join. Plenty to talk about today.
11:50 a.m.: Ten minute warning!!
Be sure to join our Twitter Spaces chat at noon with Leafs columnist Dave Feschuk and Leafs beat reporter Mark Zwolinski as they talk about everything happening across the NHL and with the Leafs, including all the moves that general manager Kyle Dubas has made, the sizzling scoring streak Auston Matthews is on, and the Leafs' Cinderella story - goalie Jack Campbell who broke Habs' netminder Carry Price's NHL record by winning 11 straight games to start a season.
Tune into the chat by following (@)torontostar on Twitter and accessing Twitter Spaces, a free audio chat room only available on the mobile Twitter app. Find Twitter Spaces on the fleet bar of the mobile app with a glowing purple circle (similar to that of Instagram stories). Be sure you have the latest version of the Twitter app and look for the event at 12 p.m. ET.
11:15 a.m.: Some fun tweets we've seen about the Taylor Hall trade, because we love fun over here.
Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports - 2010 me would've been so confused to know the Bruins would eventually trade Tyler Seguin for nothing & then acquire Taylor Hall for nothing"
Dimitri Filipovic, host of PDOcast - Buffalo Sabres covering 50% of Taylor Hall's salary and 1/3 of their remaining games this season are against the Bruins"
@ETD51 - Taylor Hall joins an elite list of former first rounders to come from Buffalo to the Bruins to win a Stanley Cup. That's right. Daniel Paille."
10:55 a.m.: How badly does Taylor Hall want to play against his former team? According to The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa, he's driving to Boston from Buffalo today, so he can play against the Sabres tomorrow night.
Google Maps tells me the drive from KeyBank Center in Buffalo to TD Garden in Boston is about seven hours. Because hockey players live in arenas, right?
10:47 a.m.: How do we think Nick Foligno feels about his new club? In the wee hours of the morning, when all-time great Maple Leaf Doug Gilmour welcomed him to the club on Twitter, Foligno responded:
Pumped to be a Leaf, thank you! Surreal from all the memories I have of you and that team from 93'!"
10:36 a.m.: Chris Johnston said this on Sportsnet 590 The Fan this morning: I know the Leafs are not done. They still have at least one more move coming. I think it is likely to be a depth defenseman."
Make of it what you will!
10:15 a.m.: Be sure to join our Twitter Spaces chat at noon with Leafs columnist Dave Feschuk and Leafs beat reporter Mark Zwolinski as they talk about everything happening across the NHL and with the Leafs, including all the moves that general manager Kyle Dubas has made, the sizzling scoring streak Auston Matthews is on, and the Leafs' Cinderella story - goalie Jack Campbell who broke Habs' netminder Carry Price's NHL record by winning 11 straight games to start a season.
Tune into the chat by following (@)torontostar on Twitter and accessing Twitter Spaces, a free audio chat room only available on the mobile Twitter app. Find Twitter Spaces on the fleet bar of the mobile app with a glowing purple circle (similar to that of Instagram stories). Be sure you have the latest version of the Twitter app and look for the event at 12 p.m. ET.
10:10 a.m.: One other minor deal that went down last night: The Senators traded defenceman Braydon (great name) Coburn to the New York Islanders for a 2022 seventh-round draft pick.
10 a.m Monday.: Happy trade deadline day! Let's get this day started with some of the moves that have taken place in the day leading up to the deadline.
The Boston Bruins acquired defenceman Mike Reilly from the Ottawa Senators for a third round pick. The Toronto Maple Leafs added centre Riley Nash from the Blue Jackets on Friday in a depth move.
Columbus sent defenceman David Savard to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a three-team deal Saturday that also involved some deft salary cap gymnastics. The Islanders sent a first rounder and two players to New Jersey to acquire veterans Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri.
8 a.m.: Sabres confirm Taylor Hall trade to the Bruins.
The Bruins also added checking line forward Curtis Lazar, who has missed the past six games with an upper body injury. Buffalo acquired fourth-year forward Anders Bjork and a second-round pick in a deal completed in advance of the NHL's trade deadline.
As part of the deal, the Sabres agreed to retain half of the remainder of Hall's one-year, $8 million salary. The NHL's 2018 MVP was deemed expendable by last-place Buffalo, which is already re-tooling for the future beyond this season.
3:30 a.m.: The Los Angeles Kings traded forward Jeff Carter to the Pittsburgh Penguins late Sunday night for a pair of conditional draft picks.
Kings vice-president and general manager Rob Blake said the franchise will have a conditional third-round selection in the 2022 NHL draft and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2023 draft. Pittsburgh GM Ron Hextall spent seven seasons with the Kings as assistant general manager, including when they won their first Stanley Cup in 2012.
Carter has played 16 years in the NHL with the last nine-plus seasons coming with the Kings, who he helped to a pair of Stanley Cup titles. The 36-year-old forward was acquired from Columbus during the 2011-12 season. During his time with the Kings, he led the team in power-play (57) and game-winning goals (44), was second in goals (194), third in points (383) and fourth in assists (189).
In 40 games this season, Carter has eight goals and 11 assists. He leaves Los Angeles tied for 10th in franchise history in goals and first in overtime goals with 11. The Kings are likely to miss the post-season for a third straight season. They have won only three of their last 10 and are six points out of the final playoff spot in the West Division.
12 a.m.: TSN's Darren Dreger reports that Buffalo sent Taylor Hall, the 2017-18 Hart Trophy winner who has struggled this season, has been dealt to Boston. The Sabres also sent Curtis Lazar to the Bruins in exchange for Anders Bjork and a 2021 second-round pick
9:30 p.m.: Star columnist Dave Feschuk weighed in on the Nick Foligno trade.
The Leafs surely brought Foligno aboard as a defensive specialist who's unafraid to do the dirty work the Leafs, at their worst, have been accused of shirking.
If it goes well, he's the Zach Hyman-esque grinder they have been seeking to complement, say, John Tavares and William Nylander. Or maybe he's a third-line checking staple."
Read the full column here: The Maple Leafs are better with Nick Foligno - whose quotable shot at Toronto's defence no longer applies
7:30 p.m.: In this strange NHL season, columnist Damien Cox wrote about the new challenges teams are facing on deadline day:
COVID, quarantines, a shortened season, empty buildings, massive losses, closed borders, uneven vaccine distribution, intra-divisional play, upcoming expansion and cap-strapped teams have squeezed the imagination of pretty much everyone at this deadline. Think about it. At the 2020 trade deadline, teams didn't have to think about any of that stuff except the cap. Now it's all part of the picture general managers and owners have to consider before the deadline on Monday."
Read the full column here: Welcome to NHL trade deadline in the age of COVID, where anything is possible
6 p.m. Sunday: Kyle Dubas didn't wait for deadline day to come around to bolster the Leafs lineup. On Sunday evening, news broke that long-time Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno was heading to Toronto. Here's how the three-team trade breaks down:
- The Leafs get Foligno from the Blue Jackets, and forward Stefan Noesen from the Sharks.
- Columbus gets Toronto's first-round pick in 2021 and a fourth-rounder in 2022, while retaining half of Foligno's salary.
- San Jose gets Toronto's fourth-round pick in 2022, while retaining half of the remainder of Foligno's salary. With 15 games left in a 56-game season, Toronto essentially gets Foligno for about a quarter of his cap hit ($1.375 million).
Here's our Mark Zwolinski on everything you need to know about the newest Leaf, Nick Foligno.
Of the deal itself, columnist Damien Cox tweeted that Leaf Nation should be over the moon. Dubas makes big acquisition at the deadline, looking like (Montreal Canadiens) in the first round." He later added that If you were EVER going to give up a late first rounder, this would be the year. Few of the top prospects have even playing crapshoot becomes an even bigger guessing game."
Braydon Holmyard is a Star sports team editor based in Toronto. Follow him on Twitter: @braydonholmyard