Photo: TSN

The Carolina Hurricanes acquired forward Patrick Marleau, a conditional first-round pick in 2020, and a seventh-round pick in 2020 from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2020, the teams announced on Saturday.

Leafs ship Patrick Marleau, conditional 1st rounder to Hurricaneshttps://t.co/FqPiD4AIo5 pic.twitter.com/fnq1cgOj1z

— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) June 22, 2019

If the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2020 is in the top-10, the Hurricanes get the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2021.

Marleau has one season remaining on a three-year contract that he signed with the Maple Leafs on July 2, 2017, which carries an annual average value of $6.25 million. The 39-year old posted 16 goals, 37 points, and a -6 rating in 82 games this past season. The expectation is that Hurricanes will buy out the final year of his contract.

Marleau has 551 goals and 1166 points in 1657 NHL games with the Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks. He spent the first 19 years of his career with the Sharks. There is some speculation that he could return to the Sharks for his last season in the NHL.

For the Maple Leafs, they clear some much-needed cap space as center Auston Matthews’ five-year contract, which carries a cap hit of $11.34 million, kicks in this season. They also have to sign forward Mitch Marner, who can become a restricted free agent on July 1 and led the team with 68 assists and 94 points, respectively. He finished with the 11th-most points and the fourth-most assists in the NHL this past season.

Marner is expected to get a contract similar to Matthews’ or even higher in terms of annual average value. The Maple Leafs have $14,040,301 left in cap space to re-sign Marner, forward Kasperi Kapanen, and forward Andreas Johnsson. Kapanen and Johnsson, each 20-goal scorers last season, can also become restricted free agents on July 1. One of their top-four defenseman, Jake Gardiner, can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

The Hurricanes have $21,511,667 in cap space with forward Sebastian Aho, who led them with 83 points during the regular season, set to become a restricted free agent on July 1. Forward Brock McGinn (RFA), forward Michael Ferland (UFA), and goaltenders Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney (each UFAs) are all in need of new contracts as well.

By Harrison Brown