The Toronto Maple Leafs bolstered their goaltending depth by acquiring David Rittich from the Calgary Flames for a third-round pick in 2022.
The Flames are retaining 50 per cent of Rittich’s remaining salary this season. He is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The Maple Leafs were looking to add another goaltender before Monday’s 3 p.m. ET trade deadline due to ongoing injury concerns with Frederik Andersen and Jack Campbell. While Campbell has played well, including recording an NHL-record 11-0 record to start his season, Rittich’s addition gives the Maple Leafs some more insurance for what the club hopes is a deep playoff run.
Rittich has been a regular in the Flames lineup for the past four seasons, splitting time with Mike Smith, Cam Talbot and Jacob Markstrom during his tenure. This season, he has a 4-7-1 record in 15 games, 12 of them starts, with a .904 save percentage and 2.90 goals-against average.
After this trade and an earlier move to acquire Nick Foligno and Stefan Noesen, the Maple Leafs now only have three draft picks in the 2021 NHL Draft — their own second-, fifth- and sixth-round picks.
