The Toronto Maple Leafs blue line at the AHL level is now loaded after the pickup of Dakota Mermis, and it’s forced their hand into an AHL level trade with the Blackhawks on Sunday.
The trade speculation in the NHL is certainly heating up in recent times, with the Vancouver Canucks , Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers among others all poising themselves to make some huge moves.
While it’s not a blockbuster deal, the Chicago Blackhawks and Toronto Maple Leafs just made a solid AHL deal, with the Rockford Ice Hogs officially acquiring 26-year old blue liner Matteo Pietroniro from the Toronto Marlies in exchange for future considerations.
An undrafted defenseman, Pietroniro hasn’t made a push to land on the Maple Leafs roster as of yet, as he has struggled to post points consistently with the Marlies and the ECHL’s Newfoundland Growlers, as he has just 12 points in 99 games played in the AHL.
What he does do however is take plenty of penalties and stand up for his team, as he has 133 penalty minutes through that stretch, but now he has a chance to make a push for an NHL squad that has a little less depth defensively.
The reason for this trade was the Maple Leafs re-acquisition of Dakota Mermis on waivers from the Utah Hockey Club, with the Marlies blue line being a little too loaded for Pietroniro to get consistent playing time.
Ultimately, he may never become a player capable of making an NHL roster, but he’s got a much better chance of doing so in Chicago, so now, the Maple Leafs have given him that potential option while losing no depth in a trade that should be good for both parties.