The Panthers and Avalanche have made a swap of minor league prospects. Florida has acquired center Dominic Toninato from Colorado in exchange for defenseman Jacob MacDonald. Both teams have announced the trade.
Toninato spent most of 2018-19 with Colorado’s AHL affiliate where he posted 29 points (14-15-29) in 57 games. Although he only got into a pair of games with the Avs, the 25-year-old played in 37 NHL contests back in 2017-18, his rookie season. Originally a fifth-round pick of Toronto in 2012, Toninato signed with Colorado back in 2017 as a free agent after not getting signed by the Maple Leafs. He will be a restricted free agent on July 1st with salary arbitration rights.
MacDonald, meanwhile, is a late bloomer. He spent three full seasons playing on minor league contracts before a 55-point breakout year with New Jersey’s AHL team in 2017-18 got him on the NHL radar. That earned him a two-year contract with Florida last July and he was once again productive in the minors, recording 43 points (14-29-43) in 72 contests while picking up a goal in a pair of games with Florida. He’s under contract with a $750K cap hit for next season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2020.