One of many trades made today, Frederik Andersen (one of the players we said teams should target this summer) is now a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He was traded for a 2016 first-round draft pick and a 2017 second-round draft pick. The Ducks, who knew that they would have to give up a goalie because of the expansion draft, were able to get good value for what many insiders considered a bidding war for Andersen’s services. Did the Ducks get a good haul in return for the middling Euro? What about the goalie starved Leafs?
It really depends on who you ask.
Andersen has had a roller coaster ride of a career thus far. Drafted twice, he had made his mark in Europe and had a couple of sterling seasons with the Ducks as a backup, but when he took over the net, he didn’t succeed quite as much. The Leafs are betting on the fact that Andersen will be the “goalie of the future” but isn’t this just the beginning of the rebuild?
Andersen's AAV is $5M on the button. $25M total value for five years.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 20, 2016
The Leafs immediately got to work on making sure that Andersen was signed long term. His deal also puts him in some pretty interesting company. He is hovering around Jaroslav Halak and Jimmy Howard, but he performs at a higher level than those two. Doesn’t seem so bad but maybe the market is just that messed up. Now what about the supposed value of the draft picks?
Players who provided the avg value of 30th pick in 8 years post draft: Jakub Kindl, Andreas Nodl, Drayson Bowman, Peter Regin, Jake Dowell
— The Coach (@CoachMarrvin) June 20, 2016
Too many people consider that late first-round pick to be worth more than it actually is as the value really drops off as the round progresses. The Maple Leafs have picks coming out of their picks. They don’t need to worry and it is a very slim chance that the Ducks hit on the pick anyway. The deal is more nuanced than people realize and it’ll take a while for the true winners and losers of the deal to come to fruition.
