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A day before the NHL trade deadline, the Montreal Canadiens have shipped out their top rental player, sending Tomas Plekanec, along with AHL forward Kyle Baun to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Rinat Valiev, Kerby Rychel, and Toronto’s 2018 second-round pick.
Canadiens acquire defenseman Rinat Valiev, forward Kerby Rychel and the Maple Leafs’ own second round pick in 2018 from Toronto, in return for forward Tomas Plekanec and forward Kyle Baun.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) February 25, 2018
More details to come...
The move signifies a focus toward the future, getting young players and a high pick back in return.
Plekanec’s Canadiens career comes to an end having scored 605 points in 981 games. The Canadiens retain 50% of the salary remaining on his contract in the deal.
We will have an in-depth analysis of this trade soon.