Toronto Maple Leafs acquire F Brian Boyle from Tampa Bay Lightning

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired forward Brian Boyle from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday in exchange for Byron Froese and a 2017 conditional second-round draft pick in 2017.

Toronto, trailing the Boston Bruins by one point for third place in the Atlantic Division, gained a ton of experience to augment its rookie-laden lineup with the addition of Boyle.

The 32-year-old Boyle had 13 goals and nine assists in 54 games with the Lightning, who traded starting netminder Ben Bishop to the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday.

"You get woken up from a nap expecting to play and you are no longer with that club," Boyle said. "It's definitely a feeling that I haven't had as a player in this league before. Pretty sure most people have gone through it and it's a lot of different things. ... It's really been a pleasure to play down in Tampa. It's been exciting, so from that standpoint it''s obviously tough to say goodbye."

Boyle, in the final season of a three-year, $6 million contract, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. The 10-year veteran is no stranger to postseason experience, appearing in 100 playoff games and reaching the Stanley Cup finals with the New York Rangers in 2014 and the Lightning in 2015.

"I go to a team that, and once again I get an unbelievable opportunity to play on an original six team with a tremendous amount of history, a team that I think really since the trade deadline last year when they started playing some of the young guys and now with Auston Mathews, they have some guys that are in there that are phenomenal, phenomenal players that are going to be really good," Boyle said.

"So it's an opportunity and I move up a few spots in the standings in the matter of a couple of hours and that's exciting for me. The playoffs for me is by far the most fun hockey I've ever had a chance to play."

Boyle has appeared in 603 regular-season games with the Kings, Rangers and Lightning, registering 93 goals and 73 assists. He also has 11 goals and 26 points in the postseason.

Froese, 25, appeared in two games with the Maple Leafs this season and failed to hit the scoresheet. The 6-foot, 205-pound forward has skated in 58 career NHL games with Toronto over the past two seasons, collecting two goals and five points.

Froese made his NHL debut against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 24, 2015. He scored his first career NHL goal on Dec. 19 against the Kings.

Froese, a native of Winkler, Manitoba, led the Toronto Marlies in goals (24) and points (39) in 48 games this season. He will be assigned to the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League.

The Lightning also recalled forwards Yanni Gourde and Adam Erne from Syracuse.

Gourde, 25, has skated in two games with the Lightning this season, recording one shot on goal. He had a team-high 20 goals to go along with 43 points in 53 games with the Crunch.

Erne, 21, has seven shots on goal in four games with the Lightning this season. He had 14 goals and 27 points in 39 games at Syracuse.