The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the NHL’s biggest sellers at the 2026 NHL trade deadline. It was easy to understand why, as the Maple Leafs have disappointed tremendously this season and are incredibly likely to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
With the Maple Leafs’ poor season, they moved on from multiple players ahead of the deadline. Toronto traded Bobby McMann (Seattle Kraken), Scott Laughton (Los Angeles Kings), and Nicolas Roy (Colorado Avalanche) all during trade deadline week.
Laughton has had a nice start to his Kings tenure, as he has two goals and three points in five games with the Pacific Division club. Roy has also been solid for the Avalanche so far, as he has two goals in five games.
However, McMann has been playing some truly spectacular hockey early on his Kraken tenure.
Former Maple Leafs Forward Bobby McMann Dominating With the Kraken
McMann made his debut for the Kraken on March 14 against the Vancouver Canucks, and he undoubtedly left a good first impression. The 29-year-old forward scored two goals and recorded an assist against the Canucks.
McMann then followed up his strong performance against the Canucks with another good one against the Florida Panthers on March 15. The former Maple Leafs forward scored a power-play goal and recorded an assist on Jamie Oleksiak’s third-period goal that gave Seattle a 6-1 lead over Florida.
With back-to-back excellent performances, McMann has three goals, two assists, five points, and a plus-2 rating in just two games for the Kraken so far. The 6-foot-2 forward has also been making an impact with his physicality, as he has thrown six hits with the Kraken.
McMann has also now set new career highs with 22 goals, 15 assists, 37 points, and 141 hits in 62 games this season, split between the Maple Leafs and Kraken. With this, there is no question that he is having himself a very good campaign. He also still has some time left to build on it with the Kraken down the stretch.
Kraken’s McMann Is Setting Himself Up for a Nice Payday
With the Maple Leafs not holding a playoff spot and McMann being a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA), it made sense that they decided to move him ahead of the trade deadline. He was too valuable of an asset for the Maple Leafs to potentially lose for nothing this summer, but especially when noting that the Maple Leafs are far from a playoff team right now.
With the way McMann has played this season, there is no question that he is setting himself up for a significant raise from his current $1.35 million average annual value. He chose a fantastic time to have a career year, and he should be able to land a nice long-term deal for his next contract because of it.
Given how well McMann has kicked off his Kraken tenure, it would not be shocking if they looked to sign him to a contract extension. However, with this year’s free agent class being weak, McMann could be wise to test the market to try to land the biggest payday possible.
Former Maple Leafs Forward Dominating After Trade