Maple Leafs add Edmundson to beef up blue-line

Joel Edmundson doesn’t shoot right but the six-foot-five, 221-pound defenceman does play with a physical edge and will bring that element to the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline.

A week after getting brawny defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving beefed up the defence corps again, acquiring Edmundson from the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

The Leafs sent a 2024 thirdrounder (previously owned by the New York Islanders) and a 2025 fifth-rounder (previously owned by the Chicago Blackhawks) to the Capitals. The 30-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

In other trades on Thursday, the Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Jacob Perreault from the Ducks in exchange for forward Jan Mysak while the Nashville Predators obtained Anthony Beauvillier from the Chicago Blackhawks for a 2024 fifth-round pick.

Those deals came on the heels of a busy day of trades on Wednesday.

The Calgary Flames swapped 27-year-old defenceman Noah Hanifin to the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights for blue-liner Daniil Miromanov and a conditional first-round and fifth-round picks in 2025.

The Colorado Avalanche acquired defenseman Sean Walker and a fifth-round pick in 2026 from the Philadelphia Flyers for forward Ryan Johansen and a conditional first-round selection in 2025. The Flyers then promptly placed Johansen on waivers.

The Avs then traded defenceman Bowen Byram to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for forward Casey Mittelstadt.

The Edmonton Oilers acquired veteran forwards Adam Henrique, Sam Carrick from Anaheim for Edmonton’s first round pick and a conditional fifth rounder.

The New York Rangers obtained forward Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick and 2025 fourth-round pick

The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 4 p.m. AT.