The Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators completed a minor trade Friday, swapping AHL forwards.
The Leafs acquired forward Gabriel Gagne from the Senators in exchange for winger Morgan Klimchuk.
Gagne, a second-round pick of the Senators in 2015, has yet to suit up in an NHL game. In 33 games with the Senators’ AHL affiliate in Belleville this year, the 22-year-old has four goals and nine points. He has registered a total of 26 goals and 40 points in 142 career AHL games over the course of three seasons.
A native of Laval, Que., Gagne spent the majority of his junior hockey career with the Victoriaville Tigres, where he tallied 64 goals and 104 points through 143 games. He added a dozen goals and 28 points in 34 games with the Shawinigan Cataractes. His best campaign came in 2014-15 (his draft year) when he recorded 35 goals and 59 points in 67 games.
Klimchuk, 23, wasn’t in Toronto for long — the club landed him in a deal with the Calgary Flames back in November — and never played with the Maple Leafs. He has appeared in one NHL game, getting the call from the Flames last season against the Boston Bruins. Per the Senators’ press release, he will report directly to Belleville. The Regina native has scored five goals and added five assists in 30 AHL contests this season split between the Flames’ and Maple Leafs’ affiliates.
The Flames selected Klimchuk late in the first round (28th overall) in 2013. He is coming off back-to-back 19-goal seasons with the AHL Heat, reaching the 40-point plateau in both campaigns. Prior to making the jump to the pros, Klimchuk suited up for the Regina Pats and Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, tallying a total of 118 goals and 267 points in 261 WHL games over five seasons.
