ICYMI: Two major trades in the NHL today

In case you missed it there were two major trades in the NHL today with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars hooking up on one deal and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings hooking up on another. 

The Penguins traded defenseman Jamie Oleksiak back to the Stars, the team that originally drafted him 14th overall back in 2011, for a fourth round pick.

Interestingly enough, the Stars ended up shipping the fourth round pick that they received from the Penguins last year in exchange for Oleksiak. It’s almost as if the original trade never took place in the first place.

In 36 games with the Penguins this season, Oleksiak has four goals and 11 points.

Later in the afternoon, the Leafs acquired defenseman Jake Muzzin from the Kings in exchange for forward Carl Grundstrom, the rights to Sean Durzi and Toronto’s first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft.

Muzzin, who still has one year left on a deal that pays him $4 million annually, has four goals and 21 points in 50 games with the Kings this season. He's a three time 40+ point defenseman who has played the majority of his career alongside Norris Trophy contender Drew Doughty, and as a result has often been overshadowed by Doughty, but he's a fine defender in his own right. Suffice it to say though that the Leafs have paid a handsome sum of three good young assets for Muzzin this season and next.

Grundstrom, 21 years old, was drafted in the second round (57th overall) by the Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and has had an outstanding first season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. The six foot, 200 pound winger has 13 goals and 29 points in 42 games with the Marlies this season.

Durzi, a Mississauga native, has 28 points in 26 games split between the OHL's Owen Sound Attack and Guelph Storm this season.