It was only a matter of time until Brad Treliving added another physical defenceman to his Toronto Maple Leafs roster, with Joel Edmundson acquired from the Washington Capitals on trade deadline eve.
The Capitals received a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and a fifth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft in exchange for Edmundson with fifty percent salary retention.
The 30-year-old defenceman is in the final season of the four-year contract he signed with the Montreal Canadiens in September 2020, with unrestricted free agency looming this summer.
Joel Edmundson, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Image: Montreal Canadiens)
Edmundson is the second physical defenceman the Maple Leafs have acquired this week, following Ilya Lyubushkin (formerly of the Anaheim Ducks) to Toronto.
“He’s not very fun to play against,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of his newest arrival. “He’s another guy that adds to the depth of our defence and gives us some extra size and presence back there. And that’s been something that I think we definitely, I would say we’ve been an undersized defence in lots of ways in terms of our length and he adds to that.”
Analysis: Joel Edmundson adds depth, physicality to Maple Leafs’ blueline
Edmundson is the kind of defenceman the Maple Leafs have previously overlooked.
The Canadian compensates for his lack of puck-moving ability with physicality and is known for his appetite for net-front battles. He keeps it simple in possession and will crush bodies whenever the opportunity arises, defensively.
Similar to Lyubushkin, the Maple Leafs acquired Edmundson with double retention, with Toronto only the hook for $875,000 of his expiring $3.5 million contract.
Edmundson shoots with his left, but can play on either side, in addition to the penalty kill.
The 6’5” defender projects as a second or third pair player in Toronto, bumping Simon Benoit out of Keefe’s top-six group.
Edmundson, with a Stanley Cup and almost a century of playoff appearances to his name, beats out Benoit in terms of postseason experience – which is always a factor in Toronto.
“We’ve obviously had guys with those experiences in the past. They’re invaluable,” Keefe said. “Just part of what their presence brings, part of what their word and their leadership brings and the respect that comes with it. But also, just the acknowledgement of how difficult it is and what’s required. So, I think you can never have enough of that type of experience. To be able to bring a guy in that has it is I think really important.”
Edmundson won’t set the world on fire in Toronto – but fans of the Maple Leafs shouldn’t lose sleep over the two mid-round picks it cost their team to acquire him.
It’s a typical ‘add-grit-and-toughness-ahead-of-the-playoffs-move’ from a franchise that has a history for lacking grit and toughness – whatever that means.
