One of the rumors swirling around the Toronto Maple Leafs pertains to Bobby McMann. Specifically, a couple of Western Conference contenders have been kicking the tires on the 29-year-old winger.
McMann is on pace to beat last year’s career-highs. But in Leafs Nation, that doesn’t get you praise, acclaim, or a contract extension. It gets you shoved into trade rumors. Of course, the situation would be much different if the Maple Leafs were a solid playoff contender.
But the fact that the Leafs are struggling to stay above water speaks to the dysfunctionality reigning in Leaf Land.
That said, trading McMann would be another failure for the Maple Leafs organization. Here’s an undrafted player who went through the wringer, made his way up to the NHL, and found a home as a top-six forward.
That’s not easy when you don’t have a solid career track like most draft picks do. McMann’s emergence with the Maple Leafs is an example of how contenders, with depleted farm systems, find young talent to augment veteran presence.
The Colorado Avalanche have become highly skilled at this. They find late-round picks, castoff prospects, and seemingly rejuvenate stagnant players. The Leafs, meanwhile, have had moderate success at this.
Besides McMann, the Maple Leafs found Zach Hyman as a castoff by the Florida Panthers. The same situation occurred with Michael Bunting. Alex Steeves was another diamond in the rough that the Maple Leafs let walk away.
I wish the Maple Leafs had a long track record of finding such players. If they did, they would have a solid pipeline, avoiding the current situation the organization is in. But that hasn’t been the case.
That’s why trading McMann now, instead of locking him up long-term, would be another massive failure for the organization. The return for McMann won’t be more than a couple of late-round picks. So, a couple of fourth-rounders for a guy who seemingly came out of nowhere to score 20 goals in the NHL. That’s not a good business practice to be sure.
I could see the Maple Leafs moving McMann if it meant a first-round pick, a top prospect, and say, another mid-round pick. But that’s what Artemi Panarin will get you these days.
No, the Maple Leafs are much better off extending McMann and keeping him as part of the core piece in what figures to be a soft rebuild at best.