The Toronto Maple Leafs added to their depth at the trade deadline by acquiring matchup forward Connor Dewar from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2026.
The Leafs also dealt Dmitry Ovchinnikov to the Wild, but he will remain on loan with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Dewar, 24, is a powerful skater with limited offensive potential (10G, 14P in 57 games) who will most likely play a bottom-six penalty-killing role with Toronto.
The Manitoban center had a career-high 11:17 of average ice time and was seventh on the Wild in hits (94) at the time of the trade.
Dewar, who visited Toronto’s development camp as a free agency invite in 2017 while playing in the WHL with the Everett Silvertips, returns to Ontario as the Leafs prepare for the postseason.
The deal continued Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving’s previous approach of adding competent depth players such as defencemen Joel Edmunson and Ilya Lyubushkin rather than dramatically altering his already outstanding squad.
The success of Treliving’s depth signings will be determined by the team’s performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where Auston Matthews, Morgan Reilly, and Co. must improve on last year’s second-round finish, which came after Toronto won its first series in over 20 years.
Dewar and Edmunson are expected to make their debuts on Saturday night when the Maple Leafs host the Montreal Canadiens. The club will hope that its fresh signings may help them recover from a 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in their previous game.
