The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired recently waived goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for prospect Tobias Lindberg and a 2018 sixth-round draft pick. Since he has already cleared waivers, Pickard will be assigned to the Toronto Marlies immediately. In Vegas, the team now has room to activate James Neal from the injured list for tonight’s game.
As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports, Vegas had been trying to trade Pickard all week after claiming Malcolm Subban off waivers from the Boston Bruins, but couldn’t find a taker until he had cleared. Teams like Toronto likely weren’t willing to waive their own backups in order to keep Pickard on the roster. Their emphasis on draft capital is clear, turning one of their assets into another pick for the 2018 draft.
They also receive a prospect in Lindberg who will join his third organization. Originally selected by the Ottawa Senators in the fourth-round of the 2013 draft, Lindberg was part of the package sent to Toronto for Dion Phaneuf. He made his NHL debut for the Maple Leafs at the end of that season, but couldn’t crack the improved roster a year ago. It was a disappointing season even at the AHL level, where he registered just 16 points in 44 games. Lindberg has size and speed, and dominated the OHL in his one year of Canadian junior hockey. Still, he hasn’t made much of an impact at the professional level and is close to being considered a non-prospect. At 22 there is still room to grow, but it will take a lot of work to make an impact at the NHL level.
For the Maple Leafs, acquiring Pickard gives them something they’ve rarely had over the years: goaltending depth. While Frederik Andersen remains the unquestioned starter, Toronto cycled through backup goaltenders last year until a waiver claim of Curtis McElhinney gave them some sort of stability. McElhinney was re-signed to a two-year deal this summer, but is already 34 and could take a step backwards at any moment. With Pickard in tow, the Maple Leafs now have another name that could step into the backup role at a moment’s notice.
Kinda called it yesterday lol
Hey CJ, you didn’t “kinda” call this yesterday, you DID call it!
So yeah clearly I’m pretty happy with the move and will await my call from Shanahan to thank me for the advice lol
CJ, don’t call Toronto but call the Red Wings because they need all the help that they can get. I am a huge fan & they just don’t have a clue from the front office to the head coach. Way too many bad contracts given to undeserving veterans
I wonder why they didn’t just claim him?
On another note, is there a way to look at minor league stats on the players page. I know Lindbergh used to be a semi legit prospect but I couldn’t find a spot where it shows how he’s done in the past couple of years
And the Knights didn’t pick Subban in the draft if they thought that highly of him.
I believe they didn’t claim him because they wanted to send him to the Marlies, and needed him to clear waivers first. If they claimed him with the intention of sending him down, he’d again have to be placed on waivers and another team could pick him up. So by waiting until he already cleared, he can go directly to the minors.
Goat, I believe that if you click on a players name in the above stories, this should take you to a page for the information that you are asking about. Hopefully I provided the information that you are asking about. I use this way to get hard to information on every player that is talked about in these articles.
Great pickup for the Leafs. Pickard as an option if Anderson gets hurt puts my mind at ease. Hole plugged!