Maple Leafs trade Ritchie, draft pick to Coyotes for Dzingel, Lyubushkin

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired forward Ryan Dzingel and defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Arizona Coyotes, the club announced Saturday.

In exchange, the Maple Leafs are sending back forward Nick Ritchie, as well as Arizona’s choice of either Toronto's third-round draft selection in 2023 or second-round pick in 2025.

A seventh-round selection by the Ottawa Senators in the 2011 draft, Dzingel has four goals and three assists in 26 games with the Coyotes this season. The 29-year-old’s top season came back in 2018-19, when he racked up 56 points in 78 games between both the Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Born in Illinois, Dzingel has 187 points in 398 career games.

Lyubushkin, a native of Moscow, has played in 46 games for the Coyotes this season, dishing out nine assists. In 180 career NHL games, the 27-year-old has totalled one goal with 18 helpers. He was a free agent pick-up by Arizona back in May of 2018.

Both Dzingel and Lyubushkin are set to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Ritchie departs for Arizona after a disappointing first season with the Maple Leafs. The 2014 first-round draft pick scored just two goals and seven assists in 33 games. The 26-year-old winger’s best season came as a member of the Anaheim Ducks in 2018-19, during which he posted a 31-point campaign that featured nine goals.

He signed a two-year, $5-million contract with the Leafs last summer, which was the team's most expensive move of the offseason.

The deal comes just over a month before the NHL’s March 21 trade deadline. The Maple Leafs currently sit just six points behind the Florida Panthers for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, while the rebuilding Coyotes find themselves in last in the West.

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