Matt Lashoff traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs

In what could be seen as a reverberation from the signing of Randy Jones, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded defenseman Matt Lashoff on Friday. Lashoff goes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, and in return the Bolts receive RW Alex Berry and forward Stefano Giliati.

Lashoff was acquired at the trade 2009 trade deadline from the Boston Bruins (along with Martins Karsums) in exchange for Mark Recchi. Lashoff played the last handful of games with the Lightning that season and only saw a handful more games with the Bolts in 2009-10 as a late-season call-up. His claim to fame upon call-up was playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Lightning's last game ever at Mellon Arena... and injuring the Penguins Ruslan Fedotenko on his very first shift. Lashoff received a game-misconduct and was ejected.

This move can also be seen as a sort of salary dump. Lashoff's contract for 2010-11 is a one-way deal, he makes $550,000 playing in the NHL or AHL. With no guarantee that he will make the NHL squad in Tampa... Well, sending him elsewhere seemed like it made sense.

But who are these prospects that the Lightning have acquired? I shuffled over to Bolt Prospects.com and their forum to read their reaction to the trade and if they could shed insight on who was acquired. The opinion is that Berry and Giliati are spare-parts that add depth to the system -- AHL or ECHL.

The move clears out some of the back-log in on-the-cusp defensemen in the Lightning system, and a contract tied to a player that very well might not make the team. It's a fresh start in Toronto for Matt, and likely NHL playing time for a squad that was... well, not that good.

As for Berry and Giliati, it'd look like they would possibly be AHL reserves or players destined for the Florida Everblades. We'll see. If you know more about the guys -- please feel free to leave a comment.

We've made changes to the Lined-Up Update and the team pree-release is below the jump.

LIGHTNING ACQUIRE PAIR OF PROSPECTS FROM TORONTO

D Lashoff Sent to Maple Leafs

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired right wing Alex Berry and forward Stefano Giliati from the Toronto Maple Leafs today in exchange for defenseman Matt Lashoff, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Berry, 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, played in 55 games with the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies last season, recording three goals and seven points. His 97 penalty minutes ranked sixth among all Marlies skaters. Berry has played in 63 career AHL games during the previous two seasons.

A native of Danvers, Massachusetts, Berry also played in five ECHL games last season with the Reading Royals, recording five points. He also appeared in 16 Kelly Cup playoff games with the Royals, notching two goals and six points.

Berry was drafted by Toronto in the fifth round, 153^rd overall, of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He played college hockey at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, appearing in 124 games, notching 29 goals and 62 points.

Giliati, 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, played in 25 games with the Marlies in 2009-10, recording three goals and nine points. He has played in 78 career AHL games, registering nine goals and 24 points with 24 penalty minutes.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Giliati also played in 46 games with Reading last season, recording 23 goals and 55 points with a plus-9 rating. He was tied for third on the squad in goals, tied for second for power-play goals, third in plus/minus and fourth in points. Giliati played in 10 Kelly Cup playoff games with the Royals, recording four goals and eight points.

Giliati was signed by Toronto as a free agent on April 3, 2008. He played in 257 career junior games in the QMJHL with Lewiston and Shawinigan, recording 94 goals and 207 points. Giliati also skated in 32 QMJHL playoff games, recording seven goals and 21 points.