Maple Leafs acquire Connor Dewar from Wild for 4th-round pick
Posted March 8, 2024 3:43 pm.
Last Updated March 8, 2024 4:53 pm.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have shored up their bottom-six depth, acquiring center Connor Dewar from the Minnesota Wild, the team announced on Friday.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek was the first to report on the deal. Toronto is sending Minnesota a 4th-round draft pick in 2026 and prospect Dmitri Ovchinnikov.
Dewar, 24, of Manitoba, was drafted by the Wild in the third round (92nd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. He’s played parts of the last three seasons in Minnesota and has scored 10 goals and 14 points in 57 games this season.
He played 81 games with the Wild last year, with six goals, 12 assists, 18 points, and 50 penalty minutes.
Dewar is regarded as an effective player on the penalty kill and is expected to slot in somewhere in Toronto’s bottom six. He’s earning $800,000 USD this season and is a restricted free agent this summer.
“He’s a defensively sound, very competitive player, and hopefully, he can help us on the penalty kill,” general manager Brad Treliving told reporters on Friday.
Dewar joins defencemen Joel Edmundson and Ilya Lyubushkin as Toronto’s acquisitions ahead of Friday’s deadline. Toronto focused on dealing mid-round draft picks and ultimately decided to keep its 1st-rounder in 2024 instead of shipping it out in a more significant deal for immediate upgrades.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a 4-1 drubbing to the Boston Bruins on Thursday and are nine points behind their division rivals entering Saturday’s road matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ovchinnikov, 21, was a fifth-round draft pick of the Maple Leafs in 2020. He’s appeared in 20 games with the Marlies this season, with seven goals and 10 points.
