2023 - Toronto Acquries Jake McCabe from the Chicago Blackhawks
This trade may not have the name or talent that the team had when they acquired Brian Leetch, but what Kyle Dubas was able to pull off to acquire Jake McCabe was superb.
For the 2023 playoff run, Dubas overhauled the team leading up to the deadline and out of the door was Rasmus Sandin and Pierre Engvall, along with several depth players. Joining the club was Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, Erik Gustafsson, along with Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty.
To acquire McCabe and Laffety, the Maple Leafs sent Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev, along with a first and second round pick. Both draft picks have yet to be selected as they come in 2025 and 2026, while Gogolev has gone back to Russia without playing an NHL game and Anderson has continued bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL.
Lafferty came with an additional year of control at $1.15 million and proved to be a good depth addition as he was used on the penalty kill while also adding six points in 19 games down the stretch and three more in the playoffs. Going into the second season, with roster constraints thanks to signing players like Ryan Reaves he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a fifth round pick.
The main part of the trade was bringing in McCabe, who had a $4 Million cap hit with two additional years left on his contract. Dubas was somehow able to convince the Black Hawks to retain 50% of his contract for three seasons, which meant the Maple Leafs would have McCabe who was a legitimate second pairing defenseman for three playoff runs at only a $2 Million cap hit.
Since joining the Toronto Maple Leafs, McCabe has played in 130 games averaging over 20-minutes a night and this season has joined Chris Tanev as one of the league's top shutdown pairings in the entire league. His strong play has led to him and the team agreeing on an four-year extension at just over $4.5 Million per season.
The deal essentially was a first and second round pick for McCabe which came with three playoff runs at $2 million, along with being able to sign him to a four-year extension on top of it. He could finish his career top 20 in games played by Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman.