The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the offseason in the market for a goaltender. They got one on Monday afternoon when the team announced it has acquired restricted free agent Frederik Andersen from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2016 first-round pick (No. 30 overall) and a second-round draft pick in 2017
General manager Lou Lamoriello also announced that the team has signed Andersen to a five-year contract. Financial terms of the deal are not known at this time.
The draft pick compensation isn't cheap, but the Maple Leafs have spent the past two years stockpiling draft picks (more than anybody else in the NHL) so they definitely have the resources to make this type of deal to improve an area of need. And Andersen is definitely an upgrade.
The first-round pick the Maple Leafs traded on Monday originally belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Toronto acquired a year ago in the Phil Kessel trade. Toronto still has 11 picks in the 2016 draft, including the No. 1 overall pick and the first pick in the second round (No. 31 overall). They will almost certainly be able to get a play at 31 that they would have been happy to select at No. 30.
They also have three second-round picks in 2017.
Andersen, who turns 27 in October, has played three years in the NHL (all with the Ducks) and has a .918 save percentage in 125 regular season games.
By trading him the Ducks settled their goaltending situation and pretty much made John Gibson their No. 1 starter for the foreseeable future. It also gives them a pair of first-round picks this year. The Ducks also own the No. 24 overall pick in the draft.
The addition of Andersen also leads to a question of what the Maple Leafs will now do with Jonathan Bernier. Bernier has one-year remaining on his current contract and carries a salary cap hit of more than $4 million into the 2016-17 season. With Andersen likely to command a similar deal that would be one of the most expensive goaltending duos anywhere in the NHL.
