Out of a dwindled to virtually nothing defenceman market, the Leafs, who have been in the market since cars had fins, have taken the last man standing. Or so it seems.

Most people will tell you how tall Edmundson is, how tough and how "he knows how to win", which is just code for he doesn't get points, and no one knows how to talk about defence.

So where does he fit on the Leafs?

Edmundson is 30, and is a pending UFA. He is a left shot, but plays both sides. His more recent history saw him play through some injuries in Montréal, getting in on 61 games last season and 24 the year before. On the Capitals this season, he's been a regular.

Via HockeyViz, his season so far has been okay, with a surprisingly gently positive impact offensively. Surprising for a defender of his type. I think he might man the opposing blueline a little better than Ilya Lyubushkin, for example.

Lyubushkin is very limited in what he's there for – he clears the net-front, and he can win board battles. Edmundson is going to do a little bit more all over the ice, and will be a little bit better. Better than who?

Simon Benoit is likely to have some better defensive results by a small amount, but overall Edmundson is more versatile. He's not as good as Jake McCabe, who is gently positive at everything he does.

Edmundson can play PK, where his height really will be an advantage, and a 50% retained, so $1.75 million, $875,000 (his contract was already 50% retained when he was traded to Washington) he's a better option that all of Liljegren on down through Lagesson, Timmins, Lajoie. I'd hesitate hard at bumping Benoit off the roster because Edmundson is more famous.

Make no mistake, Edmundson is more famous because of the type of player he is, and how he plays. Not that a tough and physical presence wouldn't be very handy tonight even, but never make the mistake of mistaking type for quality.

A small player isn't better because he's small, a tall player isn't just so bad because the wrong people like him. Measure by what they actually do. Edmundson actually does some small amount of valuable things.

But as a trade acquisition it's better than nothing, and that's about it.

Maple Leafs Trades