The Leafs have signed 2013 third-round draft pick Carter Verhaeghe to a three-year entry-level contract. Verhaeghe will report to the Marlies and join the team for the remainder of the season on an amateur tryout contract.

Verhaeghe improved considerably this past season, exploding for 82 points in 65 games, nearly twice as much as he scored as a 17-year-old. He finished the season ranked 21st in OHL scoring, well behind the 128 points of another Leafs prospect, Connor Brown.

After one game of Jay McClement as the team's best natural centre, the Leafs addressed their desperate need down the middle by making a deal with the Anaheim Ducks.

The Leafs acquired Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz from the Ducks on Saturday, shipping out Jesse Blacker, a conditional third-round pick (that could become a second-round pick if he plays 25 games), and a seventh-round pick (which was originally Anaheim's).

The primary parts of the deal, Holland and Blacker, were both blocked in their respective organizations, with Anaheim deep at centre and Toronto deep on the blueline. Blacker had fallen so far on the depth chart in Toronto that he has been a healthy scratch for much of the year with the Marlies.

Dave Nonis did well to deal from a position of strength to get a quality NHL-ready prospect when the Leafs were in such dire need for help.