4 players that the Toronto Maple Leafs gave up on too soon
Carter Verhaeghe
Selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Carter Verhaeghe never really had the opportunity to show what he could bring to the organization. Having spent most of his time developing in the OHL with the Niagara IceDogs, Verhaeghe appeared in all but two games for the Toronto Marlies before he became part of a huge multiplayer trade with the New York Islanders in 2015.
With the Leafs looking to do some housecleaning as part of their rebuild, Verhaeghe was one of five supposingly expendable players that was sent to the Islanders in exchange for short-handed goal specialist Michael Grabner.
It actually took Verhaeghe a little while to get his game together as he would spend another few years in the minors before finally getting his chance in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Playing primarily in their bottom-six, he managed to get into 52 regular season games along with another 8 playoff games en route to the Lightning’s Stanley Cup win in 2019-20. That championship run proved to be vital in Verhaeghe’s growth and development. That was because he would subsequently bring that experience to his game with the Florida Panthers where he ultimately exploded into a star.
Verhaeghe has become a key top-six forward with the Panthers, transforming into a 30+ goal scorer in the past two seasons and helping them capture their first ever Stanley Cup just last season.
Had the Leafs had some patience and let his game develop, he would definitely be an important part of their own top-six right now. As for Grabner, all the Leafs got out of him was 9 goals and 18 points in 80 games in a throw-away season in 2015-16.