The Leafs have traded D Francois Beauchemin to Anaheim for winger Joffrey Lupul, former ANA first round pick Jake Gardiner and a conditional pick in 2013. Gardiner is currently attending the University of Wisconsin.

Here is Hockey's Future talent analysis of Gardiner :

Gardiner is a versatile offensive defenseman with size, quick feet and great hands. He was quickly able to adjust and adapt to playing on the blueline after having played much of his career as a forward. Gardiner has demonstrated remarkably sound and smart positional play. He utilizes his speed and hockey instincts to play the defensive position effectively. It is further enhanced by his tremendous on-ice awareness, and his ability to read and react to developing plays accordingly. Depending upon how well his development progresses at the collegiate level, Gardiner could eventually blossom into a complete defenseman who is equally adept on both sides of the puck. Gardiner’s skating is one of his best attributes. He is very agile and has tremendously quick feet that can be seen particularly in his transitioning. He combines long, fluid strides with good pivots and explosive speed.

Not only does he have great poise and patience with the puck, but he has shown that he can be quite creative with it too. His outstanding puck distribution skills also make him a very good quarterback on the power play. Another standout feature about Gardiner is his shot. He possesses a very hard shot with a quick release, and has no trouble getting pucks to the net. He’ll also shoot as often as the opportunity presents itself.

At 6’2/178 lbs, Gardiner has good size and strength that he also uses to his advantage, both offensively and defensively. He can finish his checks very well. Where Gardiner is particularly dangerous are in the areas in front of the net and along the boards. He is strong on his skates and is a difficult player to move off of the puck. And coupled with his size, speed and long reach, he can also be just as tough to beat. As his body matures, Gardiner will become an even more dominant and effective force on the blueline.

Per various Twitter reports, the Leafs have waived forward John Mitchell.

Also, in the Marlies game against the Connecticut Whale (that was an 11AM start), Jonas Gustavsson was pulled after 20 minutes, in spite of giving up no goals on 4 shots. Early indications are that he was pulled due to health concerns, but no more specifics have been given at this point.

The Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons tweeted just after the Beauchemin deal that another trade may be in the works today, so we could have some news later in the afternoon.

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