Grading the Toronto Maple Leafs 3 Player Trade With the Kings
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings decided to be dance partners, making a trade on Wednesday night. We grade the deal from both sides.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have dipped their toe into the trade market just 19 days ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
They will be welcoming two former teammates of Jake Muzzin’s from the Los Angeles Kings, goaltender Jack Campbell and left-winger Kyle Clifford.
The trade signals to fans that the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t going to allow themselves fade out of the playoff picture without a fight. We breakdown the deal to determine what grade each franchise receives for the transaction and who was the ultimate winner in the deal.
The trade itself broke just before 11 pm after the Maple Leafs lost to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. Trevor Moore was spotted leaving the arena with all his bags as twitter flooded with information on the deal.
Grading the Los Angeles Kings
In order to acquire Campbell and Clifford, Toronto needed to send the Kings a fourth-line winger and a pair of draft picks. LA has already announced that Moore will wear number 12 for them. Born in Thousand Oaks, California, this is a homecoming for Moore.
He recently returned to action after missing time with a concussion. In his 26 games this season with the Maple Leafs he recorded three goals, two assists, and two penalty minutes while averaging 13:01 in ice time.
The Kings are also getting Columbus’ third-round pick in 2020 (which they had acquired from the Ottawa Senators) and a conditional third-round pick in the 2021 draft. According to Pierre LeBrun that pick will remain a third-round selection unless one of two scenarios plays out. If Clifford re-signs with Toronto or he wins six regular-season games and the Leafs qualify for the playoffs then that third-round pick becomes a second.
At the very least, Los Angeles is guaranteed at least two third-round selections along with Moore. It’s not very overwhelming, but for a club in a rebuild, they are looking to re-stock their cupboards. There’s no doubt that the Kings are looking to accumulate draft picks, but they should have been able to get a guaranteed second out of this swap.
There will certainly be a portion of their fanbase who are extremely disappointed in the return.
Los Angeles Kings Trade Grade: C+
Grading the Toronto Maple Leafs
This deal gives the Leafs an upgrade in two areas. They improve their backup goaltending and add more toughness to their forwards.
Clifford is a two-time Stanley Cup champion who is listed at 6’2″, 211lbs. He isn’t afraid to throw his body around or drop the mitts when needed. The 29-year-old is an unrestricted agent at season’s end, but until then the Kings will retain 50 percent of his $1.6 million salary as part of the deal.
Clifford might be a tough guy on the ice, but he also features some skill in his game with the ability to put the puck in the net. He’s scored 60 goals in his career, six of which came during this current campaign. This season he also added eight helpers and was handed 45 penalty minutes in 53 games.
Campbell instantly becomes the team’s goalie with the longest term. He is locked up until the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. This season he has a $675,000 AAV, but that jumps to $1.65 million for the following two campaigns. More than likely this will mean that he will be exposed in the upcoming expansion draft, which perhaps explains why the Leafs didn’t pay a steeper price in the transaction.
Campbell’s stats are good. At age 28, he is playing in his fifth year in the league (This doesn’t include the one game he played for the Dallas Stars in 2013 where he allowed six goals and was immediately demoted or the single-period he played in 2016 when he entered a contest in relief.) and has posted a .900 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average.
The Leafs needed a goaltender badly even before Frederik Andersen went down with a neck injury. Now more desperate, Toronto managed to bring someone in who has played well this season behind a poor team. There is also potential that his presence gives the team a much-needed spark and helps boost them into the playoffs.
Since Kyle Dubas managed to address team needs without having to give up much, it appears as though the trade skews heavily in the Leafs favour. Also, the Leafs will gladly upgrade a draft pick to a second-round if it means that they gain entry into the postseason. While there was and still is a lot to like about Moore’s game, he wasn’t the difference-maker that was needed in Toronto.
Next. The Odds Of Each Leafs Player Getting Traded. dark
Time will tell how much better the Leafs have gotten thanks to this swap, but it’s hard to find flaws in this transaction for Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Grade: A-