Blue Jackets send Nick Foligno to Maple Leafs

© Mike Ehrmann Nick Foligno, captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets, was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Nick Foligno’s time in Columbus is over, with the Blue Jackets trading their longtime captain to the Toronto Maple Leafs to chase the Stanley Cup.

Columbus received a 2021 first- and 2022 fourth-round pick from Toronto as part of the three-team trade completed Sunday that also involves the San Jose Sharks. The Blue Jackets added their second first-round pick in as many days for a prominent player while agreeing to retain half of Foligno’s $5.5 million salary-cap hit.

“Given where we are right now, this move made sense for us as an organization and for Nick,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said.

Toronto also acquired forward Stefan Noesen from San Jose, which got a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft for retaining 25 percent of Foligno’s salary.

Foligno, 33, has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 42 games this season. He has been the captain of the Blue Jackets for the past six seasons.

Capitals send Siegenthaler to Devils

The Washington Capitals traded defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler to the New Jersey Devils for a third-round pick in this year’s draft. The pick Washington received is Arizona’s conditional third-round selection that New Jersey acquired in the Taylor Hall trade in December 2019. (In the unlikely event that Hall, now with the Buffalo Sabres, returns to and re-signs with the Coyotes, the Capitals would receive New Jersey’s third-round pick instead.) By moving Siegenthaler, Washington adds $800,000 in salary cap space … The Montreal Canadiens acquired veteran defenseman Jon Merrill from the Detroit Red Wings for a fifth-round draft pick in 2021 and minor-league forward Hayden Verbeek. Merrill appeared in 36 games with the Red Wings in 2020-21, picking up five assists while averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time. The 29-year-old from Oklahoma City has 12 goals and 66 points in 392 regular-season games with the New Jersey Devils, Vegas Golden Knights, and Red Wings since making his NHL debut in 2013-14.

McCarron suspended two games

Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron was suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde. McCarron was given a match penalty for an illegal check to the head and thrown out of the game Saturday night. The NHL’s department of player safety called the head contact avoidable. McCarron will forfeit $12,069 as part of the suspension. It’s the first supplemental discipline of his 74-game NHL career … Henrik Lundqvist is abandoning a long-shot attempt to return from open-heart surgery in time to play for the Washington Capitals this season after a checkup last week showed some inflammation.