Understanding the Alex Galchenyuk trade from the Leafs' perspective

The Toronto Maple Leafs going out and acquiring journeyman forward Alex Galchenyuk raised a few eyebrows on Monday, but if you really think about it, the inner workings of the deal make a ton of sense for the Leafs.

It's no secret that the Leafs are pretty tight to the cap, so adding players without moving out some salary becomes a real challenge for the Buds. With the acquisition of Galchenyuk, who carries a cap hit of just $1.05M this season, the Leafs have added some inexpensive depth to the lineup with over 500 games of NHL experience.

Aside from the money, there are a couple of really important details to note here - the first of which being that since Galchenyuk, who was dealt from the Ottawa Senators to the Carolina Hurricanes late last week, had not left Canada, he does not need to quarantine for 14 days before being eligible to join the team.

The second detail is that since Galchenyuk had already cleared waivers for the Hurricanes as of noon ET on Monday, he does not need to clear waivers before being assigned to the taxi squad or to the AHL Toronto Marlies.

Given the fact that the Leafs have not been afraid to utilize their taxi squad on a frequent basis, it stands to reason that Galchenyuk could begin his tenure with the Leafs on the taxi squad and get in some work with the team's development staff before actually cracking the lineup, so he'll have plenty of time to learn the system, and can be sent to the AHL freely to maintain his conditioning.

As an additional point, with the Leafs having shipped off two contracts to bring in the former 3rd-overall draft pick, it opens up the opportunity to take on an extra contract closer to the trade deadline - and with the Leafs front office doing what they can to accrue cap space throughout the season, it could mean a more impactful addition ahead of the postseason.

There's really not a lot to hate about this deal if you're the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's a low-risk move that does have a reasonable chance to pay off at either the NHL or AHL level.

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