Maple Leafs pull off player-for-player trade to bolster back end!

The Toronto Maple Leafs are getting the help they desperately need on the blue line.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Conor Timmins from the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday.

According to insider in Arizona Craig Morgan, the Maple Leafs are sending prospect Curtis Douglas in the desert in the trade for Timmins. He has yet to play in the NHL.

The Maple Leafs needed the help badly on the blue line. Toronto got terrible news on Tuesday when they had to place defenseman Morgan Rielly on long-term injured reserve with a knee injury. The star player is believed to have suffered a grade one or a grade two MCL injury in Monday’s overtime loss to the New York Islanders, which carries a four-to-six week recovery period… This came on top of the Maple Leafs already being without Jake Muzzin, lost to long-term injured reserve due to a cervical spine injury earlier this season, and TJ Brodie, who is expected to miss at least another week with an oblique injury.

Timmins is a 24-year-old right-shot defenseman, who was drafted 32nd overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Draft. After being drafted, he missed the first 16 months of his professional career due to concussion issues.

He's played just two games with the Coyotes this season, but has yet to record a point. Morgan pointed out how the Coyotes feared losing Timmins for nothing on waivers, and found a trade partner in Toronto on Wednesday. 

Timmins is in the final year of his contract with an AAV of $850,000, and will be a restricted free agent at expiry.