So Toronto, who already has a million centres, gives up all that for a 3rd line centre?

For those wondering, Toronto did this to improve the team yes, but moreso to make sure an eastern conference team didn't. This was very strategic.

For those who said Pleky wasn't worth a 2nd at the minimum, remember its not whether you like a player or not, its what the market for a player like that is.

Good trade all round. Pleky's legs/offense aren't what they used to be but defensively he's still one of the best shut down 3rd line centres in the league. If his salary wasn't so high, I'm convinced the Habs would of got more for him.

OK so:
Toronto gets: Plek as a rental, AHL throwaway
Montreal gets: 2nd and two maybes(the other being probably not)

Look, I don't love the fact they gave up Valiev. I'm OK with losing Rychel, he'd never crack the Leafs with how stacked the team is. 2nd round pick hurts, but you gotta give up something.

2nd, possible late bloomer 1st, and a 3rd that still has a chance at cracking the NHL in some capacity.
More than I expected, so the competition must have been decent for his services, even with Pittsburgh dropping out after acquiring Brassard.

Got the pick we were expecting, and two bonus pieces (though we did send back an undrafted 25 year old that is having a bad year. Likely for contract balance more than anything).

The trade is really a second rounder for Pleks, a pretty standard trade. Rychel could have been obtained on waivers last fall. His projection to be an NHLer is questionable now, as is Valieu. If they can ever make the NHL good for them, but hardly difference makers.

Don't know why say the Leafs have a million centres. They have four. Matthews, Kadri, Bozak and Moore. Pleks make a great 4th, bumping Moore. Please don't say Nylander or Marner or Marleau are centres. Nylander and Marleau are emergency centres and February isn't the time to be experimenting with them at centre. And Nylander plays his best as Matthews RWer.

A second rounder....standard trade. Rychel and Valiev meaningless to the Leafs now and in the future. Certainly questionable NHLers at best.

Toronto got lots of playoff depth now with this addition. But they got rid of 2 good rookies and a 2nd rounder. They over paid by quite a bit.

No Rychel, is the 3rd best LWer on the Marlies. He cleared waivers in October with no takers. Good luck to him with Montreal but he certainly had no future with the Leafs. Is Valiev an NHLer?, questionable, Probably fell to the 4th Leaf Dman prospect with the Marlies behind Liljegren, Borgman, Neilsen. So calling them good rookies, certainly not with the Leafs.

A lot if non-Leafs fans are calling this a fleece. It’s not. Toronto gave up spare parts for a very valuable veteran. Please people take more time to analyze a trade before calling it a fleece.

As a Leafs fan, giving up Valiev in this deal hurts a little, but to be honest, I don't know when/if he would have been brought up. As for Rychel, too much competition for him, he would have never cracked the NHL in this org, and would have likely not been tendered an offer in the summer. So, on the immediate surface, it's a 2nd rounder for Plekanec with a Valiev slight overpay.

One of those deals where we'll see how well it works for the Habs in a few years. Honestly, this is a pretty close comparable with the Boyle deal a year ago, and Plec is better than Boyle so that makes up for the slight overpayment.

Just want to point out how good this trade looks for the Leafs now. With Komarov and Matthews hurt the added depth of Plekanec has really helped.

Yes his 0 points and -1 really helps. Not to mention with all the Injury's, hes not even getting more than 10 Minutes/game. It just shows how much trust the leafs have in him.

He’s depth. Maybe not at his best right now but he’s better than AHL alternatives.

I dont know, Is he really worth a 2nd round pick when hes still a pointless - Plus/Minus and is still on the 4th line with 2 center injurys?

He’s got playoff experience, can take minutes when defending a 1 goal lead, and can PK. I’ve said this so many time before, deadline deals are never ever value for value, it is all about the demand for the certain player. I guarentee you that many teams called about Plekanec thus increasing his price past his realisic value.

Gee Montreal gave up Sergachov and acquired a pro rated 48 point, minus 34 , 5.5m Drouin. Leafs trading a late round 2nd rounder is a bargain compared to the Drouin acquistion for Montreal

What is with leafs fans and bringing up that trade as an example of a bad trade. Montreal needed a forward, Tampa needed a D. If that didn’t happen Drouin has 3 times as many points as Sergachev. It’s a difference in the team around them.

Yea Bob Mckenzie said realistically he was worth a 4th. You keep saying hes playing PK time and such, but how can you play PK time and 5v5 time and still have under 10 minute TOI?

Montreal needed a true 1C not another winger. Now your still in need of a 1C and a young puck moving defenseman. You created another hole while not even filling the gaping one in the first place.

I will admit Babcock isn’t using him right. But I’d expect that to change come playoff time when we take on a Bruins team filled with experienced and mature players.

I would pay a 2nd rounder for the turtlenecks alone

Drouin has been looking bright lately. We didnt create a hole when we traded Sergechev. He never filled a hole in the first place for us

Your defense is old and slow (for the most part). I’m not saying Drouin is bad, but wouldn’t Sergachev be having a greater impact on your blue line then Drouin is on offense?

Its hard to tell, but id say no. Sergechev has 0 defensive game. Tampa is able to hide all his weaknesses as they were for Drouin. Just me watching him once in while, he givesaway pucks worse than Subban did. Drouin is usually our best forward everynight (Galchenyuk/Gallagher are toss ups). Could he help our defense? Probably, but I doubt he would get anymore than top 6 time

All I’m saying is I think Montreal could have traded for a more vital piece than Drouin. Again I am not saying Drouin isn’t talented, all I am saying is that Montreal needed and still needs a true 1C that can carry the team.