The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired forward Brian Boyle in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
Tampa Bay gets a 2017 second-round pick and minor league forward Byron Froese for Boyle. The teams announced the deal about 47 hours prior to the NHL's trade deadline.
Boyle, 32, is a pending unrestricted free agent. He has 13 goals and nine assists in 54 games this season. In 603 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Lightning, Boyle has 93 goals and 73 assists.
The native of Hingham, Massachusetts, is a defensive-minded forward who can win faceoffs and give Toronto depth down the middle beyond Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak. The trade signals more selling for Tampa Bay, which sent goaltender Ben Bishop to the Kings on Sunday.
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said earlier Monday that he still hoped to make the playoffs. They're seven points behind the Maple Leafs, who hold the second and final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
Yzerman told reporters at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, that his goal was to win the Stanley Cup.
"Some of the short-term objectives, I guess, I weigh what is the return versus what I'm moving out," Yzerman said. "We're going to do everything we can to make the playoffs. At least I'm going to make my decisions based on what gives us the best chance of winning a Stanley Cup whether that's now, a year from now or two years from now."
Boyle has appeared in 100 playoff games. He brings veteran leadership to a young Maple Leafs team that is trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
"Boyle is one of the best teammates I ever played with," former NHL player Patrick O'Sullivan tweeted. "Valuable and versatile on the ice and great for the room. The kids get a good leader."