Maple Leafs' Trade With the Blackhawks Is Now Clearly a Win for Toronto

Trades are not always the most predictable routes of success, and any GM has their fair share of both wins and regrets, there are only general managers who are able to see certain fits and trades better than most anyone, but even the best have gotten it wrong.

Recently, former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas on a podcast admitted one such mistake he had made in his past with Toronto, the trade of Mason Marchment to the Florida Panthers for Denis Malgin.

Dubas said he had liked Marchment, and in his defense at the time, Marchment was a 24-year-old AHLer with a career high of 26 points and just four NHL games, but five years later he really may have wished he had held on longer as Marchment would go on to blossom into a top-six forward shortly after, now with the Seattle Kraken after establishing himself as one of the top players on the Dallas Stars.

Malgin played in just 31 games for Toronto and had four points, he currently plays in his native Switzerland.

This is of course not a trade that Dubas won, he lost big time, but one move has proven beneficial for the Leafs still and looks to have been one of the best trades of the Dubas era.

At the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, the Leafs had two pressing needs in a physical blueliner and a bottom-six center. Toronto knocked both needs off after a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks to acquire center Sam Lafferty and defenseman Jake McCabe.

Both players were areas that the Leafs were looking to improve on their roster, and they got two solid players in McCabe, who instantly added a strong two-way skill to Toronto's blueline, and a high-effort penalty killer in Sam Lafferty.

Not only were both moves much needed for Toronto to address for the deadline, but to this day have so far been successful for the Leafs.

Since being acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Jake McCabe has been one of the most valuable members of the team's roster.

McCabe has been a reliable top-four defenseman who has been able to impact the game at both ends of the ice, and is one of the Leafs hardest battlers for posession and in the defensive end.

Still a solid two-way defenseman, McCabe has been a big part of the Leafs penalty kill and has given them a necessary physical advantage on the blueline, setting the stage for Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo to replicate his style of play.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a reliable defenseman in Jake McCabe who is playing the physical defensive style that Craig Berube and Brad Treliving are trying to build for the Leafs roster.

The Leafs will hope the trade isn't too much of a loss. Joey Anderson has been an average fourth-liner/13th forward type who had just 18 NHL games last season, splitting time between the NHL & AHL. Pavel Gogolev has returned to Russia.

The big pieces left for Chicago to salvage the deal are their prospects. They used their first round pick this year on winger Vaclav Nestrasil, a 6'5 forward with a strong skating ability and raw upside, Chicago also has a 2026 2nd.

For Toronto, they have gotten a strong defensive presence who has helped make their blueline group one that is secure where it is and doesn't need much in terms of an upgrade.