MAPLE LEAFS ANSWER LIGHTNING
The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired forward Sam Lafferty and defenseman Jake McCabe from Chicago on Monday, their latest big trade that comes in the aftermath of division-rival Tampa Bay making another pre-deadline splash.
Toronto sent a conditional 2025 firstround pick, a secondrounder in 2026, prospect Pavel Gogolev and forward Joey Anderson to the Blackhawks for Lafferty, McCabe and conditional fifthround picks in 2024 and ’25. Chicago is retaining half of McCabe’s salary.
The Leafs look to again be on a crash course to face the Lightning in the first round of the playoffs, after losing to them in a seven-game series last year. Tampa Bay on Sunday paid a hefty price for forward Tanner Jeannot, sending young defenseman Cal Foote and five draft picks — including a first in 2025 — to Nashville.
The Lightning won the Stanley Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21 and went to the final in 2022. This move could set them up for another deep run, no matter the cost.
“The reality at the trade deadline is you’re going to have to overpay,” Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said at a news conference Monday in Tampa. “A lot had to go our way for us to accumulate such a critical mass of good players all at once. My job, my responsibility as the custodian for this group is to sometimes take risks to maximize our return for this era.”
Lafferty and McCabe to Toronto continued the flow of talent from sellers in the Western Conference to contenders in the East. Also Sunday, New Jersey acquired big winger Timo Meier from San Jose, and NHL-leading Boston got defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from Washington on Thursday.
“Everybody wants to put all the really good players in the East on trades,” Fitzgerald said with a chuckle. “It’s amazing.”
Getting through the Atlantic Division with the Lightning and first-place Bruins and the East at-large with one of the Carolina Hurricanes, Devils or Rangers likely waiting in the conference final won’t be easy.
“The East, it’s a powerhouse,” Fitzgerald said Sunday night. “It really is. It’s really a powerhouse.”
And that’s even before the Rangers get Patrick Kane from Chicago, the last highly anticipated trade before the deadline Friday that is hinging on New York’s salary cap situation. But Fitzgerald also pointed out the Lightning are still the best of the East until someone beats them.
The Leafs would like to do that, and McCabe — signed for two more seasons after this one — certainly strengthens the blue line that has been one of their weaknesses. Lafferty, also under contract beyond this year, gives Toronto more forward depth.
The same goes for Jeannot with Tampa Bay in a trade similar to BriseBois getting Brandon Hagel from Chicago at the deadline a year ago. BriseBois in previous years acquired defenseman David Savard (2021) and forwards Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman (2020) and lifted the Cup each time.
Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde, an assistant for the Lightning during their three trips to the final, told reporters in Ottawa: “I’ll never question Julien BriseBois.”
Based on history, he’s not wrong, and Tampa Bay might not be done.
“Never say never,” BriseBois said. “The focus has been on this trade the last little while. Now that we’re able to bring that to the final line, we’re going to reconvene today and look at whether there are other opportunities out there worth exploring.”
Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon
said the same thing Sunday after acquiring 2019 Cup-winning forward Ivan Barbashev from St. Louis, and other rivals in the West are positioning themselves for additional moves given how wide open the conference looks. Edmonton is on the lookout for help on defense and has been linked to Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm, Minnesota has been stockpiling draft picks to make a splash and the L.A. Kings could get a goaltender if Seattle doesn’t beat them to the punch.
Winnipeg acquiring winger Nino Niederreiter from the Predators on Saturday woke up the West, and Dallas responded by getting four-time 20-goal scorer Evgenii Dadonov from Montreal.
Miller to have hearing
K’Andre Miller of the Rangers will have a hearing with the NHL’s department of player safety for spitting at Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.
The league announced Monday that Miller would have a hearing for unsportsmanlike conduct.
It was not immediately clear when the hearing would take place. The Rangers do not play again until Wednesday at Philadelphia.
Miller in a message posted on social media earlier Monday called his actions “completely accidental.”