Rasmus Sandin gives the Leafs a surprising shout-out
Rasmus Sandin may no longer be a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he’s still thinking about them.
Well, sort of.
In a video posted today to the Washington Capitals’ social media, the former Leafs defenceman gave a bit of a surprising answer when asked about the first hockey sweater he ever owned as a kid.
Growing up in Uppsala, Sweden, Sandin revealed that he first owned a Toronto jersey before getting a Capitals one.
Whether you call it a jersey or a sweater, everyone remembers their first one#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/rxWNFibYBz
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 1, 2023
Given his age of 23 and birth year of 2000, it’s quite likely former Toronto captain and Swedish hockey legend Mats Sundin was on the back of his jersey. He wasn’t the only Capitals player to rock a Leafs jersey as a kid, with Toronto native Dylan Strome saying his first sweater was a Sundin one.
Sandin, the teamās 29th overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, had spent parts of four seasons in Toronto before his trade last year, in exchange for Erik Gustafsson and a first-round pick that Toronto ended up using on Easton Cowan.
Signing a two-year, $1.4 million contract prior to last season, Sandin admitted getting traded away from Toronto was a shocking one.
āThat was obviously a curveball when I got traded,ā Sandin told Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek on Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts podcast this past September.
āComing into it, I knew two guys really well. One of them was Erik Gustafsson who got traded for me and the second guy was Marcus Johansson who got traded who got traded like five minutes before I did. I was like, who am I going to know on the team?ā
The Leafs and Capitals next play in two games a little over a week apart next March. Toronto visits Washington on March 20, while they host the return match eight days later on March 28 at Scotiabank Arena.