Throwback Thursday: On this day in 2003, Toronto Maple Leafs acquire Owen Nolan

Welcome back to another edition of Throwback Thursday!

On this day in 2003, the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired Owen Nolan from the San Jose Sharks.

In return, the Leafs sent off Brad Boyes, Alyn McCauley, and a 2003 1st round pick that later was traded to Boston.

Nolan went on to finish that season scoring seven goals and five assists in 14 games, before tallying 48 points in 65 games the year later.

“It’s obviously a big deal,” Bill Watters, then assistant GM of the Leafs told Shi Davidi of The Canadian Press.

Watters later told Leafs TV: “our goal is to strengthen our team for the playoffs. We’ve done it at forward and now we’re going to try to do it on defence. That’s our next goal.”

Struggling with the Leafs, Nolan never returned to the player that he was in San Jose in years prior, and didn’t play for Toronto after his second season. In the lockout year, he didn’t play and sat out the 2005-06 season after having knee surgeries.

Nolan played four more years — one with Phoenix, one with Calgary, and two with Minnesota — scoring 150 points in 285 games.

Boyes only had played one game with the Sharks, before being traded to the Buffalo Sabres in a three-way deal. McCauley, meanwhile, spent three years with San Jose playing 174 games scoring 83 points.

The Boston Bruins later acquired the first-round pick, selecting Stuart.

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