Canadian teams get jump on deadline: Caps get Shattenkirk

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has shuffled warily through fourth-line centres this year to no avail. That shuffling ends now. The Leafs sent a conditional secondround pick in 2017 and minor leaguer Byron Froese to Tampa on Monday for Brian Boyle, an expiring contract. Boyle is six foot six and 244 pounds and he’s capable in the faceoff circle, winning 53 per cent of his draws this year, including 50 per cent on the penalty kill. The Ottawa Senators acquired forward Alex Burrows from Vancouver in exchange for prospect Jonathan Dahlen. The trade gives the Senators a skilled pest with plenty of playoff experience at forward. Burrows, 35, has played 822 regular-season games with the Canucks, posting 193 goals, 191 assists and 1,066 penalty minutes. He has added 19 goals and 15 assists in 70 playoff games. His best offensive days are behind him — he has nine goals in 55 games this season — but he will still bring sandpaper to the club. The Montreal Canadiens acquired Jordie Benn from the Dallas Stars for Greg Pateryn and a fourthround pick in the 2017 draft in an exchange of defencemen. Benn, the older brother of Dallas all-star Jamie Benn, is a left-shot defenceman who can also play on the right side. With Pateryn’s departure, the Montreal roster has only Shea Weber and Jeff Petry as natural righties. The six-foot-two, 200-pound Benn has two goals and 13 assists and is minus-3 in 58 games this season. The 29-year-old has 11 goals and 60 assists in 302 career NHL games. The Washington Capitals acquired top-four defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk and goaltender Pheonix Copley from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forwards Zach Sanford and Brad Malone, the Capitals’ firstround selection in the 2017 NHL Draft and a conditional draft pick(s), senior vice-president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced Monday.