Maple Leafs and Sharks Trade Officially Completed as Final Condition Met

While the Maple Leafs deal with some serious injury woes, it seems like former defenseman Timothy Liljegren is having himself a decent season all things considered. Finding a pot in the Sharks lineup, he's shown glimpses of what Toronto could have had.

But that trade, which sent a pick and Matt Benning to Toronto might be coming back to bite Toronto in the butt a little bit now, and we can officially say that with the conditions met surrounding the picks, that trade is final.

The trade involved Toronto receiving a Conditional Third-Round pick in the deal, and it was based off of whether the Maple Leafs would end up with Colorado or Edmonton's pick after the standings were finalized.

According to PuckPedia, the hub of all things contracts, trades, and salary cap figures; with the draft order officially finalized, it looks like Toronto gets the earlier pick in the deal, and got the Avalanche's 2025 third-rounder.

So let's break it down a bit and try to simplify things.

San Jose acquired Edmonton's 3rd rounder in the Ty Emberson deal, and they also acquired Colorado's 3rd rounder from Nashville in the Yaroslavl Askarov deal (Colorado dealt the pick in an earlier deal involving some minor pieces).

San Jose then gave Toronto a 3rd round pick based on the condition that Toronto receives whichever pick comes first in the draft. Based on how the season played out, Colorado finished worse in the standings therefore Toronto gets that pick, and San Jose sticks with Edmonton's.

It's an extremely convoluted deals that shows just how stressful and tough an NHL GM's job can be, and which is why we should probably give them a little more credit at times.

But Toronto makes out in the end, and although they weren't really able to keep Liljegren (a move they made be regretting now), they certainly made out with a decent enough pick that can also be moved this summer to bring in some quality pieces.

It's just another part of how the NHL works, and that even though a deal is done months ago, and the trade deadline is a month passed us; it all comes down to the end of the season regardless.