Maple Leafs get tough, grab Edmundson from Capitals
The Maple Leafs joined the NHL trade deadline party Thursday by acquiring defenseman Joel Edmundson from the Capitals.
Toronto sent a third-round pick in this year’s draft, originally the Islanders’ selection, and a 2025 fifth to Washington for the rugged defender. Edmundson gives the team some needed toughness on the blue line, even as a left shot.
The Capitals are retaining half of what’s left of Edmundson’s salary after Montreal already has 50% from a trade last offseason. That makes the him quite the bargain for the Leafs at a cap hit of $875,000, just above the league minimum.
Edmundson, 30, helped the St. Louis Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019 and is a pending free agent. He has skated more than 16 minutes a game this season with Washington.
Earlier in the week, Edmundson seemed content with the possibility of being traded to a contender, though his focus at the time was on helping the Capitals.
“Everyone wants to win,” he said. “I want to win every year, so I think once you get that feeling once, you just want it to happen every year and when you see other teams win it, you just kind of get jealous and frustrated. So yeah, we all want to win it every year.”
The move for Edmundson comes after a flurry of moves Wednesday by the Rangers, Avalanche, Golden Knights, Avalanche and Oilers.
EIGHT MORE YEARS FOR FORSLING
Gustav Forsling came to the Panthers four years ago simply looking for a chance. He earned a whole lot more. Forsling — the NHL’s leader in plus-minus this season by a wide margin — and the Panthers have agreed to an eight-year extension, the team announced Thursday. He was slated to be an unrestricted free agent this summer, with this season the last he had on a three-year, $8 million deal.
“It sends a message that guys want to play here,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said.
Instead, he’s now locked in as part of the core going forward along with the likes of Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk. A person with knowledge of the agreement said Forsling will receive a deal with an annual value of $5.75 million — so $46 million in total.
Also Thursday, the Panthers signed forward Jonah Gadjovich to a two-year deal, Zito said.
Forsling spent his first three NHL seasons in Chicago, then got traded to Carolina in 2019. He never made it onto the ice with the Hurricanes, who waived him in January 2021.