Maple Leafs acquire Plekanec, Baun from Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec

Montreal Canadiens' Tomas Plekanec

After almost 17 years with the Montreal Canadiens, forward Tomas Plekanec will swap his Habs jersey for a Toronto Maple Leafs one.

General manager Marc Bergevin announced on Sunday that the Canadiens have acquired forward Kerby Rychel, defenseman Rinat Valiev, and a second-round pick in 2018 from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Tomas Plekanec and Kyle Baun.

The Leafs already had strong center depth with Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri, and Tyler Bozak, so Plekanec will allow them to roll four lines deep up the middle if everyone is healthy.

The 35-year-old had six goals and 18 assists over 60 games with Montreal this season.

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Plekanec, 35, was the longest tenured Canadien, playing almost 1000 games for Montreal after being drafted by the team in 2001. The Toronto native has had 19 goals and 40 assists in 171 career AHL regular-season games. He was originally drafted in the third round, 71st overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. His contract also expires at the end of this season at chich point he will become an unrestricted free agent.

The 25-year-old Baun has spent the entire season with the Canadiens' AHL affiliate. Tampa Bay has a star studded roster led by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov and if they can add a piece at the trade deadline they are going to be very tough to slow down as Steve Yzerman has assembled a very good team and match up well with most every team in the National Hockey League.

Rychel, 23, is a former first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The team also receive the Leafs' second-round pick, which now gives it four picks in the second round this year: Toronto's, Chicago's, Washington's, and its own.

Rychel, a first-round pick in 2013 (19th overall), has 10 goals and 30 points in 50 games with the Marlies.

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