With the Leafs set to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, I thought it would be fitting to take a look back on one of the weirder trades between the two teams. Almost eight years ago, the Leafs and Bolts executed a trade that basically of no major relevance; yet, it remains one of the weirdest transactions in recent Leafs history.
The Prelude
The Tampa Bay Lightning being under stable ownership is something of a recent trend; for most of their franchise history, that wasn't the case. Early in their expansion days, the Bolts were owned by anonymous Japanese businessmen, and were at one time believed to be a front for the Yakuza.