Trade Alert: Toronto Maple Leafs score an upgrade on defense

The Toronto Maple Leafs know that they’re in for a firefight when the postseason begins. That’s because they need to gear up for a matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round. Toronto saw the Bolts add Tanner Jeannot on Sunday and they stepped up Monday with a big trade of their own.

After focusing on the offense by bringing Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari into the fold two weeks ago, general manager Kyle Dubas decided it was time to improve the blue line. The Maple Leafs added left-shooting defenseman Jake McCabe. This is a great opportunity to ensure that the D-core is complete.

For the Leafs, McCabe adds grit and shot blocking that they didn’t have before. In 55 games this season, the 6’1″, 204 lbs defender blocked 115 shots and laid 122 hits. That’s not an outlier, it’s his style. Last season, in 75 games with the Chicago Blackhawks, he blocked 167 blocks and threw 166 hits.

Jake McCabe brings grit and experience to the Toronto Maple Leafs

This season, 29-year-old McCabe has been averaging 19:29 minutes of ice time where he’s recorded 2 goals and 18 assists. Sam Lafferty will also be joining McCabe en route to the Big Smoke. The 27-year-old, figures in to play on the fourth line. This season in Chicago, he has played 51 games and notched 10 goals and 11 assists.

The Leafs won the trade simply by having the best player in the deal coming their way. Even though he’s been stuck on bad teams his entire career, McCabe has proven his value in the NHL. His possession metrics are very good considering how poor the Blackhawks have been.

When playing at even strength, McCabe’s Corsi rating is 46.5. While one would prefer that to be at least 50.0, he’s still 5.2-percentage points higher than his team. Though last season was a down year, two campaigns back McCabe’s Corsi rating was 56.6 at even strength playing with the Buffalo Sabres. That’s very good for any club, let alone a poor one. He was +8.5 relative to his team.

A key part of this trade is that in order to make it happen, the Maple Leafs didn’t need to give up any of their NHL talents. This gives coach Sheldon Keefe options both on offense and defense.

Up front, Lafferty may bump Zach Aston-Reese to the press box. It may also lead to some internal competition for all the bottom six forwards who will try to ensure there is still an NHL roster spot available to them.

On the back end, it remains to be seen who becomes the odd man out. At this time, it is looking like Justin Holl may be on the outside looking in.

In just a few short days, Dubas and the Maple Leafs made big strides to give their roster a facelift. There’s going to be a lot of pressure on all the men in blue and white and hopefully this new-look team can deliver when the games matter most.