The Leafs track record with getting players through waivers this season has been incredibly spotty, and a couple of days after having no luck with Adam Brooks for a second time this season, it was time to try their luck with the newly acquired Ryan Dzingel. The $1.1M cap hit associated with Dzingel was a bit more of a reason for optimism.
Well, I guess Ryan Dzingel joins others like Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues, Nathan Horton, Olaf Kolzig, and Martin Skoula on the distinguished list of paperwork Leafs. We’ll always remember his time here, but it some birds just can’t be caged.
While keeping Dzingel would have been nice for the Leafs and Marlies from a depth perspective, this trade was first and foremost about dumping Ritchie’s contract, and secondly about adding Ilya Lyubushkin as a solid depth option on the blueline. If the Leafs got anything out of Dzingel it was going to be gravy.
As for San Jose, they are going to be sellers, and being able to have Dzingel in the lineup after the dust settles probably helps them out.
The outcome puts an end to the Liljegren/Sandin AHL shuffle for now, and both can be in the Leafs lineup tonight.
Data from Evolving Hockey, Hockey Reference, and PuckPedia
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