Leafs trade Aulie To Lightning.
By On · 6 Comments ·
Aulies shipped to Lightning.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded defenseman Keith Aulie to the Tampa Bay Lightning for minor league right wing Carter Ashton.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: So much for GM Brian Burke’s claim he had nothing on the go, but that being said, it appears to be merely a minor league move at this point. Ashton has yet to play in the NHL, while Aulie was up-and-down in the Leafs lineup this year.
IMO more than a minor league move. This is the perfect hockey trade for tomorrow! Bolts really needed a big defenseman and we really needed a forward with size and skill. I’ve seen Carter play a lot and would make an amazing line of Ashton – Coborne – Kulemin.
Hate to see Aulie go….
Having said that though, on paper this looks like a good deal. Aulie was a fourth rounder, Ashton was a first rounder. Leafs have some big bodied forwards in the pipeline!
This is a trade that will hopefully work out for both teams. The Leafs are dealing from a position of strength to address a weakness; same with Tampa Bay. Aulie will be missed, but in reality, the Leafs have a lot of good young defensemen coming: Blacker, Holzer, Percy; they have Schenn and Gardiner with the team right now. And apart from Kadri, Colborne and Frattin, they don’t have many forwards knocking on the door. This gives the Marlies a good player that they can use during their playoff run, and the Leafs exactly what they need: a big center with some skill who can really skate well and score. Remains to be seen if it works out, but the trade makes a lot of sense from the Leafs standpoint. It also makes re-signing Grabovski less of a priority because they now have Colborne and Ashton as future potential centers.
Congradulations Carter Ashton. You just went from top prospect to a piece of $hit thrown in every trade scenario. Lol! I joke of course. Kind of a parallel move, future for future. Doesn’t help us now, but we’ll see if he pans out.
I’m a fan of D men so I wouldn’t have moved a guy like aulie. Have to see where these two guys peak in 5-7 years.
I could see this trade happening very quickly so its quite possible even Burke did not see it coming…lol