Breaking down the Toronto Maple Leafs 2024-25 Blue-Line

Jake McCabe

With 75% of his salary retained by the brilliant trade Kyle Dubas made in his last deadline with the Leafs, Jake McCabe is an incredibly valuable player to the Leafs.

At his full salary though, not so much.

McCabe has nights when he looks like a top pairing player, and then he has other nights when you realize why he played on bad teams for the majority of his career. He's the guy who tantalizes with his best game, but rarely gives it to you.

McCabe's biggest problem is that he can't move the puck. If he could pass like Tanev, he might be a poor-man's version, which would be a damn good second pairing player. As it is, he's a slightly above average player giving you great value for the tiny cap hit, but not much more.

It took playing on the league's highest scoring 5v5 team for McCabe to hit a career high of 28 points, but I doubt we'll see that again this year, considering he scored eight times and doubled his previous career high, which was a total fluke.

McCabe will turn 31 when the season starts, and like Rielly and Tanev, there is a huge risk that he completely falls off the proverbial cliff. Considering his contract makes him valuable and other team's tend to be kind of dumb, and considering he can play the right side, the Leafs would be smart to move him now for a player who can move the puck more effectively.

Unfortunately, selling high doesn't seem to be in Treliving's tool box and that's unlikely to happen. The Leafsiest thing that can happen, and which almost certainly will, is that the team signs him to an ill-advised extension.

Last year, the Leafs won his minutes handily and he posted a solid 52% expected goals rating from the second pairing. That's decent and if he does that again the Leafs will be very happy. Unfortunately, like the other two guys listed ahead of him on the depth chart, he's old and in decline.

He also can't move the puck, which makes him a bad fit for an offense-first team. But, all things considered, given his salary and role, and his propensity to go through periods where he's unplayable, he is, at best, an average #3.