Maple Leafs acquire D Ilya Lyubushkin from Ducks in 3-team trade involving Hurricanes

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks in a three-team trade involving Carolina.

Anaheim received Toronto’s third-round pick in 2025 in the deal announced Thursday night, while Carolina gets Toronto’s sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft. The Ducks will pay 50% of Lyubushkin’s remaining salary this season, while the Hurricanes will pay an additional percentage.

Toronto also got the reserve rights to KHL forward Kirill Slepets from Carolina in the deal.

Lyubushkin has no goals and four assists with a minus-13 rating in 55 games this season for the Ducks, who acquired him from Buffalo last August for a fourth-round draft pick. The veteran Russian has been most valuable as a mentor to Pavel Mintyukov, Anaheim’s promising 20-year-old Russian defenseman.

Lyubushkin will provide depth on the blue line for the Maple Leafs, who first acquired him in a trade with Arizona in February 2022. Lyubushkin scored six points in 31 games for Toronto and added another assist in seven postseason games before he left for Buffalo as a free agent that summer.

Lyubushkin is a stay-at-home defenseman and a right-handed shot who is likely to fill in for injured Mark Giordano in the near future while Toronto continues its playoff push.

The Ducks could be offloading additional veterans with expiring contracts as they finish up what is all but certain to be their franchise-record sixth consecutive non-playoff season. Veteran forward Adam Henrique has figured prominently in trade rumors in recent weeks.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL