The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired veteran goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for netminder Vesa Toskala and veteran forward Jason Blake.
''J.S. is as classy and professional as they come,'' Ducks general manager Bob Murray said in a press release. ''On behalf of the organization, we thank him for his tremendous contributions to the franchise both on and off the ice, not the least of which were two trips to the Stanley Cup Final and one championship. We wish him well in Toronto.''
The most valuable player of the 2003 Stanley Cup playoffs, the deal reunites Giguere with his long-time goaltending coach Francois Allaire, as well as former GM Burke.
''What I loved about him is I've never had a goalie that works this hard ... I've had lots of goalies and I've had good goalies but I've never had a goalie that worked as hard as J.S. Giguere,'' Leafs general manager Brian Burke said.
The Montreal native recently lost his starting job to netminder Jonas Hiller, who inked a four-year, $18-million extension on Saturday, clearing the way for the trade.
Giguere, 32, has a one year, $7 million contract remaining while the 32-year old Toskala is making $4 million this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Giguere joins the Maple leafs with a 3.14 GAA and a .900 SV% over 20 games this season while Toskala has posted a 3.66 GAA over 26 games.
''Not taking any shots at Vesa, we felt we had to make this move,'' Burke said.
Blake, 36, has struggled playing for the blue and white this season, posting just 10 goals and 26 points in 55 games. The Moorhead, MN native signed with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent in 2007 and has 50 goals and 141 points in that span.
Earlier in the day, the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames were involved in a seven player swap that saw former all-star defenceman Dion Phaneuf heading to Toronto. The Leafs also acquired six-foot-six defenceman Keith Aulie and winger Fredrik Sjostrom.
In exchange, Toronto gave up defenceman Ian White and forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers.
