Leafs acquire McCabe, Lafferty from Blackhawks
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Jake McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty, and two conditional fifth-round draft picks from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
The Maple Leafs send forward Joey Anderson, forward Pavel Gogolev, a conditional 2025 first-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick to Chicago.
Toronto's 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected. If the selection falls in the top 10, Chicago will receive a 2026 first-rounder, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Chicago is retaining 50% of McCabe's salary. Toronto will receive the blue-liner at a $2-million cap hit through 2024-25.
The Maple Leafs are receiving a 2024 and a 2025 conditional fifth-round pick. For the earlier selection, they'll get the lowest of the Blackhawks' fifth-rounders, according to CapFriendly.
General manager Kyle Dubas views his two new acquisitions as pieces that will give the Leafs a new look and can help them finally advance past the first round of the playoffs.
"There's no reason for us to really beat around it," Dubas said, according to The Athletic's Jonas Siegel. "We've wanted to become more competitive."
He added, "That’s been the goal here (with these trades), something we feel like in those big moments we've needed and maybe we've lacked a little bit of."
McCabe has 20 points in 55 games while averaging 19:29 of ice time. The 29-year-old left shot is in the second season of a four-year contract signed with the Blackhawks in 2021.
The Wisconsin native has yet to play on a team that finished above .500 in his eight full seasons. His 122 hits are the most by a Chicago blue-liner and would rank first among Maple Leafs defensemen.
Lafferty's 10 goals and 21 points are already career highs. The 27-year-old is averaging 15:07 and has won 52.4% of his faceoffs. The right-shot center is signed through next season at a $1.15-million cap hit.
Anderson cleared waivers Thursday. He's played 14 games with the Maple Leafs this season, tallying two goals and three points. The 24-year-old has 14 goals and 27 points in 30 contests in the AHL and is a pending restricted free agent. Toronto acquired him in 2020 for Andreas Johnsson.
Gogolev was signed by the Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2021. The 23-year-old has spent the majority of the campaign in the ECHL, where he has 21 goals and 48 points in 33 games.
Toronto has failed to make it out of the opening round in six consecutive postseasons. The Maple Leafs made a splash earlier this month by acquiring forwards Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues.
"Every year we're in it," Dubas said Monday, per Sportsnet's Luke Fox. "With where we're at right now, we have to give the team the best chance to win. ... Because just being a fun matchup and being fun to watch isn't good enough for us. It's trying to win."
McCabe and Lafferty are expected to join their new team in Seattle for practice Tuesday. The Maple Leafs take on the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday.