Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Potentially Necessary Trades for Auston Matthews
Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Sad but Potentially Necessary Trades for Auston Matthews
To Los Angeles: Auston Matthews
To Toronto: Quinton Byfield, Brandt Clarke, Kevin Fiala, 2024 1st Round Pick
The Los Angeles Kings are acquiring a top three player in the league, in his prime and ready to sign an extension.
We all know what the Kings get in the trade, but what are the Toronto Maple Leafs getting back?
In Quinton Byfield, the organization gets the second overall pick from the 2020 NHL Entry Draft who has not quite been able to make his mark yet. He is a 6’5″ center that uses his body about as much as Matthews.
He averaged just 14 minutes of ice-time with the Kings last season and collected just 22 points in 53 games, while also spending some time in the AHL this past season.
Byfield is a big risk as he hasn’t been able to solidify himself as an NHL player at this point in his career, but he is just turning 21-years old in August and did collect four points in six playoff games.
Brandt Clarke would be the big add in this trade and he was rated by NHL.com as the Kings second best prospect going into last season.
Clarke was a standout for the Team Canada during the 2023 World Junior Championships where he averaged more than a point per game. During his CHL season he was named to both the OHL and CHL First All-Star Teams after collecting 61 points in just 31 games. He followed that up with another 23 points in 12 playoff games.
The former eighth overall selection is a 6’2″ right handed shot defenseman and could be that cornerstone blue liner the team has always wanted.
The final player the Toronto Maple Leafs would acquire is a solidified NHL player the team knows will help in Kevin Fiala. He is an established 25-goal scorer that has averaged more than a point per game over the last two seasons and turns 27 years old later this month.
Fiala is signed through the 2028-29 season at a cap hit of $7.875 Million per season.
The first round pick is just a topper that the club will get back in the deal.
The only problem with the trade for Los Angeles is that they would now have Matthews, along with Philip Danault, Anze Kopitar and Pierre Luc Dubois down the middle.