Leafs protected 4F, 4D, 1G
The Toronto Maple Leafs had appeared to pull off a bit of a heist on Saturday by acquiring forward Jared McCann from the Pittsburgh Penguins prior to the NHL's transaction freeze in preparation of the Seattle Expansion Draft.
The Leafs sent a 2023 7th round pick and prospect Filip H�llander back to Pittsburgh in the deal. If that name sounds familiar, it's because H�llander was one of the main pieces that came to Toronto in the Kasperi Kapanen deal, along with the 15th overall pick in 2020 that became Rodion Amirov.
McCann, 25, is a reliable two-way forward with a great shot, good speed and a high hockey IQ that allows him to read plays well and transition quickly from defense to offense. Moreover, he seemed to be Alex Kerfoot's replacement in Toronto, with Seattle reportedly having interest.
Following the trade, it opened up the floodgates for a lot of speculation among Leafs Nation as to who the Leafs would protect, knowing that acquiring McCann likely meant that the Leafs would go with the 7F, 3D and 1G protection model.
Well, don't celebrate the McCann acquisition too hard just yet, Leafs Nation, because according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs appear to have protected 8 skaters and a goalie, going with the 4F, 4D, 1G model, leaving both McCann and Alexander Kerfoot exposed.
While the move seems somewhat pointless on the surface, there are actually some things to consider here.
1) The Leafs obviously value Justin Holl more than the fanbase, as there is no clear-cut replacement for his minutes in-house. As much as we all want Timothy Liljegren to be the answer there, we don't know what he is yet and some time on the team's bottom pair with sheltered minutes is better than throwing him into the lake, hoping he knows how to swim.
2) McCann's acquisition cost was low, so if he is selected by Seattle, it would be as if Seattle was paid a 7th round pick to select B prospect Filip Hallander, leaving the team unphased at the NHL level.
3) With Seattle reportedly having a pre-established interest in Kerfoot, perhaps a deal was already struck between the Leafs and the Kraken that Toronto would not trade Kerfoot and instead, leave him exposed. In this case, McCann would be the natural replacement for Kerfoot as the 3C in Toronto.
4) The Kraken wanted two players from Pittsburgh, McCann and someone else, but with only one pick, they struck a deal with Toronto to acquire one of those players for them. In exchange for brokering the deal, the Kraken would leave Kerfoot and Dermott right where they are in Toronto.
Whatever the truth is, may it be one of these scenarios or a combination, there are a lot of unhappy campers in Leafs Nation, as McCann - a former Soo Greyhound - had been high on a lot of people's wish lists to fill that 3C spot for the last couple of seasons. If Leafs GM Kyle Dubas acquired McCann to simply lose him for nothing, it seems like a bit of a tease for Leafs fans who were excited by the move.
I suppose we'll have to reserve judgement until the offseason acquisitions have been made and we have a clearer picture of what the plan was for this summer.
There are certainly a lot of folks who are very uneasy about the situation at the moment. It will be interesting to see what Dubas and company have up their sleeves in Toronto.
