Red Wings Trade Leino to Flyers for Tollefsen

The Detroit Red Wings announced today that they have traded left wing Ville Leino to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth round pick in the 2011 Entry Draft. Tollefsen was then immediately placed on waivers where he can be claimed by any team before noon on Sunday. He will likely be sent to the Red Wings' AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids in he clears waivers. The move was orchestrated to clear salary cap space for the Red Wings, who have a number of players close to returning from injuries, including Johan Franzen. In 42 games with the Red Wings this season, Leino has four goals and three assists for seven points and was a frequent healthy scratch in recent games. Tollefsen has two assists and 23 penalty minutes in 18 games with the Flyers this season. He missed 16 games earlier in the season with a concussion and 14 games more recently with a sprained left MCL. This is really just a cost-cutting trade by the Red Wings. If they had tried to send Leino to the minors, he would have had to pass through waivers and likely would have been claimed by another team, therefore, they would have lost him for nothing. Leino has the potential to become a top-six forward in the league, but could not find his scoring touch with the Red Wings this season. If the Flyers give him a chance, he could be a decent impact player down the road. Tollefsen gives the Red Wings a tough, physical seventh defenseman, but likely won't play very many games with the team given their lack of salary cap space. If Tollefsen does play any games with the team, it will be to fill in for an injured defenseman. As for the fifth round draft pick the Red Wings received, they have had a lot of success in the past with drafting high-caliber players in the later rounds, so this pick could hold some promise for the team, but that remains to be seen.