Grading the McCabe/Lafferty trade: Maple Leafs are all in, for this year and beyond

Mike McKenna
Mike McKenna(MikeMcKenna56)
Grading the McCabe/Lafferty trade: Maple Leafs are all in, for this year and beyond
Credit: © Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

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Here we go again. The Toronto Maple Leafs are stockpiling players in advance of the 2022-23 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Welcome to T.O., defenseman Jake McCabe and forward Sam Lafferty. No more toiling away with the 30th-place Chicago Blackhawks.

When you include recently acquired forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, the Maple Leafs have now added four players within the last 10 days. Draft picks and players have been moved out. And roster surgery still needs to take place for the Maple Leafs to remain under the NHL’s $82.5M salary cap.

General manager Kyle Dubas’ latest move addresses one major area of concern: defense. But the Leafs GM was also able to improve depth among his bottom six forwards. All without sacrificing much in terms of cap space. McCabe and Lafferty cost a combined $3.15M against the cap this year. And both have term remaining on their respective contracts.

For the Blackhawks, the rebuild continues as GM Kyle Davidson amasses draft picks and prospects in return for players that don’t factor into his long-term vision for the franchise. The Blackhawks are absolutely loaded with draft picks. And with Patrick Kane likely to be traded in the near future, there are more to come.

Time to hand out some trade grades.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Receive:

D Jake McCabe, 29 – $2M cap hit (Blackhawks retain 50% of $4M cap hit) through 2024-25

C Sam Lafferty, 27 – $1.15M cap hit through 2023-24

2024 fifth-round conditional pick

2025 fifth-round conditional pick

I’ve long been wary of the Maple Leafs blueline. And while I do think Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren have found a nice level of consistency, the absence of Jake Muzzin has loomed large in Toronto’s lineup.

The shutdown minutes Muzzin played are hard to replace. But acquiring Jake McCabe goes a long way towards filling that void among Toronto’s blueliners. McCabe plays a hard game, willing to lay his body on the line. He’ll kill penalties and make smart decisions with the puck.

What McCabe won’t do is help the Maple Leafs offense. His footspeed leaves something to be desired. But the team already has enough puck-moving defenders. Putting up points won’t be his main focus. McCabe’s defensive role will be clearly defined for head coach Sheldon Keefe.

The only worry with McCabe is that he does have a history of injury. But he’s been healthy this season. And a major bonus for the Leafs is that he comes at a miniscule $2 million cap hit, thanks to the Blackhawks retaining half of his original $4 million. McCabe also has two years remaining on his contract.

Is Jake McCabe worth a first-round draft pick? With Chicago retaining half of his salary, and with two years remaining on his contract, I think so.

Adding Lafferty is a bit of a surprise considering the Leafs just picked up two centers in O’Reilly and Acciari. But Lafferty has played wing before in his career. He can easily slide between positions as needed for the Leafs.

Toronto has added another weapon to their penalty kill with Lafferty, too. He’s a great skater and is tied for the NHL lead this season in short-handed goals with four. Although he’s in the midst of a career season – 10 goals and 11 assists in 51 games for the Hawks – I’d be surprised if Lafferty is able to stay at that pace with the Maple Leafs. 

If Lafferty is destined to play on the fourth line with Acciari, that’s a tough matchup for a lot of NHL teams. Lafferty’s speed and Acciari’s tenacity should match up well against the Leafs presumed first-round opponent: the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Once again, a key to adding Lafferty is his contract. With another year remaining on his deal at just $1.15 million, Dubas has roster flexibility. In my eyes, he wasn’t worth a second-round pick. But with the ancillary pieces in this deal, and the fact that Dubas wanted to get ahead of the market by acquiring the forward, I can understand it.

What’s hard to come to grips with is just how much Toronto has given up in draft capital with the recent moves. But this deal is easier to understand because both McCabe and Lafferty aren’t rentals. Lafferty will be around for another season, McCabe two. Paying with a high draft pick for either of them is much more palatable knowing the team has control.

Grade: B+

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Receive:

RW Joey Anderson, 24, $750,000 cap hit, 2023 RFA

LW Pavel Gogolev, 23, $834,167 cap hit through 2023-24

2025 first-round conditional pick, top-10 protected, becomes 2026 first-round pick if triggered

2026 second-round pick

Moving out Joey Anderson wasn’t a big deal for Toronto. At 24 years old, he still has upside. But for the most part he’s been a excellent AHL player capable of filling in at the NHL level as needed. Did he fit into the Leafs long-term future? Doubtful. Maybe going to Chicago will be a boost to his career. He’s an RFA so Chicago has cost certainty into the future.

Pavel Gogolev I find intriguing. He’s ripping up the ECHL but hasn’t been able to find his scoring touch in the AHL. I’ve seen players like him get a change of scenery and take off. If he goes to Rockford (AHL) and plays well, who knows what can happen. But for the Leafs, Gogolev was just another contract. And one used on a long-term project better suited for a team like the Hawks.

I think Chicago hit a home run moving Lafferty, especially considering he was acquired for Alex Nylander just over a year ago in a salary dump move. And with McCabe, retaining money was a smart move. The Blackhawks knew they could hold some real dollars in order to maximize a return. A first rounder for a depth defenseman with questionable durability is a steal.

Sending the fifth-round picks back to Toronto doesn’t move the needle enough to have been a deal breaker for Chicago by any means. The condition on the 2024 fifth-rounder ensures that Toronto receives the lowest of the Hawks’ fifth-round picks.

If we look at this deal through the lens of a scorched-earth rebuild, the Hawks used the cost-control appeal of two veteran assets beautifully to secure more draft capital and continue rebuilding their farm system. Next up: seeing what Davidson reels in for Kane.

Grade: A

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