The Toronto Maple Leafs Absolutely Should Not Rush to Re-Sign Jake McCabe

The Toronto Maple Leafs best trade of the last decade is easily Kyle Dubas' acquisition of Jake Muzzin, and I don't think anything comes within ten miles of it.

However, the extremely under-appreciated former Toronto Maple Leafs GM made another trade that was nearly as good: the trade that brought in Jake McCabe.

McCabe is a good, not great player. Unlike Muzzin, McCabe he isn't a star or one of the best defenseman in the NHL. The reason this trade was so good is because of the salary retention that makes McCabe such a cheap player who massively outperforms his contract. (Or at least the portion of it the Leafs are paying).

But he's a very good player nevertheless and the Leafs are lucky to have him. For now.

They have no incentive to re-sign him and should not even consider doing so.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Absolutely Should Not Rush to Re-Sign Jake McCabe

McCabe is versitle and puts up OK numbers, but his lack of puck-moving acumen means he's never going to be as good as he otherwise could be.

He's played to roughly a 53% xGoals in his 90-odd games as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he's played all over the linup and been a very good addition to the team, for the most part.

He is inconsistant and bad at moving the puck, and he's prone to stupid penalties. Those things just keep him from being better, they don't make him bad. He's a very solid second-pairing defenseman, but he is not a star.

What makes McCabe so valuable to the Leafs is that when he was acquired, he was double-retained, which means he only has a $2 million cap-hit. This is great value, but if the Leafs re-sign him this goes away.

Jake McCabe is very, very valuable at $2 million. At the $4 or $5 million it would cost to re-sign him, not so much. McCabe is also entering his age 31 season, which means he probably won't be as good this year as he was last year.

NHL aging curves are fairly predictable, and most players get worse every season starting when they turn 30. Of course, there are exceptions, but most of them are star players. TJ Brodie, superior to McCabe in virtually every way, is two years older, but last year he demonstrated the problem with signing players in their 30s when he suddenly became unplayable.

The fact is, if you re-sign McCabe he'll be 32 and overpaid for what he does. With Tanev, Rielly and OEL, the Leafs have three very old players signed for a very long time. The last thing they need is another old guy signed long term.

Signing McCabe to an extension just isn't a smart play. The thing to do is trade him now, while he still has a dirt-cheap cap-hit and a reputation for beinig a good player. Of course he's a valuable member of the current team, so it would depend on the return, obviously. The next best thing to do would be to just keep him for this year and let him walk.

But re-signing him is a terrible idea that would not even be considered by a smart team. Of course, we have no evidence that the Leafs are a smart team, so expect him to be locked up to an eight-year deal any minute now!!!