BREAKING NEWS: Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Steen, Colaiacovo to St. Louis

I have gotten confirmation from Darren Dreger, and the trade is now appearing on several media outlets, including the official website of the St. Louis Blues, so it's a done deal.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo to St. Louis in exchange for forward Lee Stempniak.

Stempniak has 13 points in 14 games for the Blues this season.

It's no surprise to see Colaiacovo on his way out.  He had fallen out of sorts with coach Ron Wilson almost from day one. 

As for Steen, it's a bit of a shock. A lot of people are divided on this guy.  Some will be happy he is leaving, others will say he still has a lot of potential and that this was a mistake.

He certainly hasn't been as good for the Leafs as I thought he would have been this year.

There is no draft pick coming back the other way, it is a done deal.

As I said to Andrew in the comments section, it's a little concerning that Stempniak is currently out with a knee injury, but I would assume that Cliff Fletcher was given the proper medical report before pulling the trigger on the deal.

It will be interesting to see how the Maple Leafs players react to this deal. I mean, they have been sliding somewhat lately, but it was interesting to see this group of young guys playing for each other, and sticking up for each other. 

As much as they had their pitfalls on the ice, Steen and Colaiacovo were two guys who were really liked by their teammates, and it'll be interesting to see what happens to the dynamic of this group going forward.

Quick Updates

Mike Van Ryn

Mike Van Ryn began skating today, two weeks after the devastating hit from behind delivered by Canadiens forward Tom Kostopoulos.

Interview with Dale Mitchell

At around 4 PM today, I will get the chance to sit down and go one-on-one with Windsor Spitfires forward and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Dale Mitchell.

I will hope to have the interview up on BR before the end of the night, but I can't make a guarantee. It will be a busy night, and tomorrow I am heading to Toronto to check out the Leafs/Thrashers game, so time is a little tight. I'll get it up as soon as possible, so be on the lookout.