Maple Leafs minor trade with Lightning could mean bigger deals coming

By Vinnie Criscenzo | Feb 7, 2015

Jan 30, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Carter Ashton (37) during warm ups prior to the game against the Florida Panthers at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Maple Leafs trade minor trade with the Lightning could open the door for bigger changes.

While it’s only a very minor trade between the two teams, it could mean big things for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Friday, the Leafs announced that they have traded forwards Carter Ashton and David Broll to the Tampa Bay Lightning for just a conditional 2016 seventh-round pick, according to The Toronto Star.

Carter Ashton was an original first-round draft pick by the Lightning back in 2009. Since being acquired by the Leafs, Ashton hasn’t seen much time with the big club. He’s played only 54 games in the past three seasons for the Leafs, registering only 3 points, including zero points in seven games this season. Aston was suspended for 20 games on Nov. 6 for testing positive for a performance enhancing drug.

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David Broll was a 2011 sixth-round pick of the Leafs. He hasn’t played a single regular season game for the big club. He has spent most of his time in the AHL and ECHL while in the Maple Leafs organization.

The conditional seventh-round pick the Leafs received from Tampa Bay is dependent on how many games Carter Ashton plays for the Lightning next season. If Aston plays 15 games with the Lightning during the 2015-16 season, Toronto will receive Tampa’s seventh-round pick. If Ashton plays less than 15 games, the Leafs will receive no compensation for the trade.

You may think this is a completely brain-dead trade on the Maple Leafs’ part, as they potentially could be giving away two players for absolutely nothing. However, there’s a bigger picture here.

An NHL team can only have 50 players signed to professional contracts at any time. This includes one-way and two-way contracts. Toronto was at the maximum 50 players that they could have under contract. With this trade, they are down to 48 now, opening up two spots in the organization.

This is very important to realize, as the Maple Leafs head towards the March 2nd trade deadline and College free-agency. It gives the Leafs much more flexibility to make some moves to either change their fortunes for this season, or try to add pieces for next season.

The Leafs are losing at a historic rate right now. With their most recent loss to the New Jersey Devils Friday night, they have lost a franchise record 11th straight game. The team has completely crashed and burned since Peter Horachek took over as head coach.

I think I can hear Randy Carlyle laughing as he counts his money.

There hasn’t been much for Leafs fans to be optimistic about, but even this minor trade could be something to perk up their ears. It likely means that there are more moves to come in the somewhat near future.

[H/T: SportsNet, The Toronto Star]

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