The Capitals have another exit ahead of Friday’s trade deadline: they have deal defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a pair of future draft picks: a 2024 third-round pick that previously belonged to the Islanders, and a 2025 fifth-round pick that had been the Blackhawks.
Per reports, the Caps, as they did with Anthony Mantha, retained 50 percent of Edmundson's salary, leaving Toronto with just a $875,000 cap hit for the acquisition.
Edmundson, 30, has a goal and six assists, 19 penalty minutes, and a minus-5 rating in 44 games this season, averaging just over 16 minutes of ice time per game. The nine-year vet signed a four-year deal with Montreal in 2020 and came to DC this year in a July trade for two 2024 draft picks, a third and a seventh – and with the Islanders right near the Caps in the standings, they ended up getting 44 games of Edmondson and a small lateral move in this year’s third round while swapping a 2024 seventh for a 2025 fifth.
Now he heads to Toronto, and as Caps head coach Spencer Carbery told the Junkies that the best way to reload was build through the draft, Washington is back up to 25 total picks in the next three drafts.
