Patrick Marleau is a Toronto Maple Leaf no more.
On Saturday, the Leafs announced they had traded the 39-year-old, a conditional first (2020) and seventh-rounder in 2020 in exchange for a 2020 sixth-round pick. The move was made to clear cap space, as Toronto was able to shed all of Marleau’s $6.250 million cap hit in the deal.
The news is bittersweet for Leaf fans as they now improve their chances of signing forward Mitch Marner, but also lost a dressing room father figure in the process. Marleau served as the team’s oldest player over the past two seasons and was particularly close with both Marner and fellow young superstar Auston Matthews. He doesn’t have Twitter himself, so he took to his wife Christina’s Twitter account to share a message to them and Leaf fans.
We’re not crying… YOU’RE CRYING! YOU HEARD US! IT’S YOU WHO’S CRYING!!!!
TSN’s Frank Seravalli noted that the condition of the first round pick is that it’s top 10 lottery protected, and will slide to 2021 if it does become a top ten pick. The expectation, he revealed on Twitter, is that Marleau agreed to waive his no-movement clause so the Canes will buy him out and he can become an unrestricted free agent.
Normally, a trade like this would be the talk of the day. But in a matter of minutes, some other huge news in the NHL just so happened to break. Moments later, the New Jersey Devils announced they had acquired P.K. Subban from the Nashville Predators. P.K. now joins a revamped Devils squad, who drafted Jack Hughes first overall in the NHL draft just over 12 hours earlier.
Time will tell where Marleau ultimately ends up but wow, what a crazy day in the NHL.
(H/T Christina Marleau)
