The Leafs pulled off another significant move today by bringing in two players with term from the Chicago Blackhawks:
We’ve acquired Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a conditional 5th round pick in 2024 and a conditional 5th round pick in 2025 from Chicago in exchange for a conditional 2025 1st round pick, 2026 2nd round pick, Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 27, 2023
The deal sees the Leafs dealing well into the future with a conditional 2025 1st round pick and a 2026 2nd round pick along with Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev who make the contract counts work.
A big part of what makes this deal seem like a massive win for the Leafs is that Chicago is retaining half of McCabe’s cap hit, which makes him a $2M defenseman for this season and next.
From the press release:
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has acquired defenceman Jake McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty, a conditional fifth round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft and a conditional fifth round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for forwards Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev, a conditional first round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft (top ten protected) and a second round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Blackhawks will retain 50% of McCabe’s salary as part of the transaction.
Lafferty gives the Leafs a solid penalty killer and energetic bottom six player. Jake McCabe is another defenseman who clearly adds to their top four, bringing a dose of physical play the Leafs have lost with Muzzin’s departure. He is also a far more responsible option than others like Gavrikov or Edmundson, so this needs to be looked at as the Leafs dodging some bullets here as well.
The Leafs still have their 2024 1st, and now a very crowded blueline featuring young assets like Sandin and Timmins as well, which could make the Leafs primed to do even more in the coming days. If they do nothing else, it’s safe to say the Leafs have gone big this year.
More details on who the Leafs added to come shortly on TLN.
