You think the Toronto Maple Leafs trading David Clarkson to the Columbus Blue Jackets was a big deal?
Just imagine if Clarkson ended up being moved to another Canadian team.
It turns out that was a possibility because the Ottawa Senators and Maple Leafs held several conversations regarding a possible Clarkson trade, according to a report from ESPN.
In a business deal camouflaged as a hockey trade, the Leafs sent Clarkson’s $5.25-million salary cap hit to the Blue Jackets Thursday evening for Nathan Horton, who is unlikely to ever play hockey again due to severe back issues.
Since the Leafs can bury Horton’s $5.3-million cap hit on the long-term injured reserve, it was a way to free up cap space they didn’t have with Clarkson on their roster.
It’s unclear what the Senators were prepared to give Toronto for Clarkson or whether or not a deal was ever close to coming to fruition. Still, it’s not the first time the Senators had expressed interest in the winger. The Senators were one of the teams that tried to sign Clarkson when he was an unrestricted free agent two summers ago.
