Leafs trade Beauchemin to the Ducks

[Phil The Thrill]

The first domino appears to have fallen prior to the NHL trade deadline as the Toronto Maple Leafs have shipped defenceman Francois Beauchemin back to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for forward Joffrey Lupul, defenceman Jake Gardiner and a conditional fourth-round draft pick in the 2013 Entry Draft.

The 30-year-old Beauchemin struggled during his time in Toronto after signing as a free agent in 2009, however he helped the Ducks capture the Stanley Cup in 2007.

A stay-at-home defender, the Sorel, Quebec native has two goals and 10 assists in 54 games this season with the Leafs.

Originally selected in the third round, 75th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Beauchemin has 27 goals and 99 assists in 373 career games split between the Canadiens, Columbus Blue Jackets, Ducks and Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile the 27-year-old Lupul, who missed 24 games earlier in the season following back surgery, has five goals and eight assists in 26 games this season.

Originally a first round pick (seventh overall) by the Ducks in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, the Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta native has 117 goals and 121 assists in 421 career games split between the Ducks, Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.

The 20-year old Gardiner, who is among the Ducks' top defensive prospects, currently plays for the University of Wisconsin where he has seven goals and 23 assists in 30 games this season. He was selected in the first round, 17th overall, by Anaheim in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=353098

 

[Phil The Thrill]

arty:


Lupul's cap hit and contract FTL, but I am really excited about acquiring Jake Gardiner.

 

[footballplaya52]

sounds good to me

 

[Rios15]

I love Lupul.

 

[LeafsFan4Life]

I like this trade a lot. Beauchemin has been really disappointing so it's good to see him finally gone. I'm looking forward to seeing how Lupul does with the Leafs. He had back surgery which caused him to miss most of last season and the first few months of this season. Gardiner had pretty good potential so I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops.

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Burke may not be done

Real_ESPNLeBrun Pierre LeBrun
Am told Leafs working on something else although it's not clear whether they can pull it off or not....

 

[playmaker7]

Why the fuck did they give the Leafs Gardiner...

 

[Phil The Thrill]

Most likely because we took on Lupul and his contract.

 

[Gtown81]

smh at the Ducks big time

 

[sheed]

smh at the Ducks big time

Tell me about it. I really liked Lupul even though he isn't having a great season.

 

[snipezo]

Ummmmmmm how did they manage to get so much for Beauchemin? lol

 

[H-MYK]

Good move on the Leafs, I've always liked Lupul. I'm a bit surprised that we got this much for Beauchemin.