Toronto Maple Leafs Make Strange Decision In Trading Richard Panik

 

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks, but it’s strange because there seems to be no benefit for either team.

Toronto traded Richard Panik to Chicago and got Jeremy Morin in return. The reason why this trade benefits neither team is because Panik and Morin are basically interchangeable as players. The only difference between the two is that Panik is a left-handed shot who plays on the right-wing and Morin is a right-handed shot who plays on the left-wing. This trade makes no sense unless there was an unknown dispute between one of the players and their respective team that caused this trade to happen.

They were both drafted in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Morin was drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets) at 45th overall and Panik was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning at 52nd overall. They are both 24 years old, with Panik being only two months older than Morin, so this isn’t a case of trading a mature player for a prospect.

Both of them have spent this season in the AHL. Panik has 25 points in 33 games with the Toronto Marlies this season, while Morin has 22 points in 28 games with the Rockford Icehogs.

Is that enough similarity for two players to have? Well in case it wasn’t, they are also the same height at 6-foot-1.

Did Toronto need a left-winger that badly? They could’ve just put Panik on the other wing since he is a left-handed shot, but instead they traded for a right-handed player that plays on the left-wing.