After Sunday's trade that brought Daniel Winnik to the Washington Capitals from the Toronto Maple Leafs also spelled the end of Brooks Laich's 12-year run in Washington, general manager Brian MacLellan admitted that the veteran forward tried to talk him out of making the trade.

"He expressed that he really wanted to be a part of it and win a Stanley Cup here," MacLellan said, according to Zac Boyer of the Washington Times. He also added that trading the winger was the hardest thing he's ever done as a general manager.

While both MacLellan and the Capitals players were certainly sorry to see him go, Laich's contract - which holds a $4.5-million cap hit this year and next - was limiting the team's ability to add more pieces at the trade deadline, and could have also hindered potential plans to lock up restricted free agents Marcus Johansson and Dmitry Orlov in the offseason.

The 32-year-old Laich has struggled this season, tallying just a goal and six assists in 60 games.

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