3 Reasons Toronto Maple Leafs Will Win the Stanley Cup
No. 3: Trade Deadline Acquisitions
For the first time in the Kyle Dubas era, the team decided to go “all-in” at the Trade Deadline this year, despite having a very good roster. Instead of being complacent, they decided to address their leadership, depth and physicality with the moves they made.
Ryan O’Reilly may be injured but as long as he’s ready to play Game 1 of the playoffs, the team will be fine. Despite having to get surgery for his broken finger, that type of injury won’t be a concern when the playoffs start.
As for the other additions, Sam Lafferty, Noel Acciari and Jake McCabe specifically will be big additions to the roster.
The two forwards can provide scoring all while providing extreme depth in the team’s bottom-six. Meanwhile, McCabe is a top-four defenseman on the team, so he’ll be a huge addition eating up lots of minutes in the playoffs.
It would have been easy for the Leafs to make one big move for O’Reilly and have called it quits. However, they addressed their needs perfectly and those additions will be important in the playoffs.
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It wouldn’t be shocking if O’Reilly scores a big goal or McCabe makes a big defensive play that is the difference-maker in the post-season this year, so look for the new additions to be important pieces in the biggest games of the year.