Ahead of free agency opening up, rival teams are calling the Toronto Maple Leafs to gauge the availability of defenseman Jake McCabe.
McCabe has four years left on his contract at a cap hit of $4.513 per season. While the 32-year-old Wisconsin native has been a good soldier for Toronto since they picked him up from the Chicago Blackhawks in a 2023 trade, with new Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka looking to make changes to the team’s roster, there is a chance that McCabe gets moved.
Rival Teams Calling on Jake McCabe
According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, teams are calling the Maple Leafs to see if they would be open to moving McCabe.
“I know that there are calls coming in on Jake McCabe, as well, and teams continue to do their work around McCabe in terms of his health and what his future might look like,” Dreger said.
According to Dreger, the Maple Leafs are likely going to have a much-revamped blueline next season. The team has already started to reconfigure its defense core after trading Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for Emil Andre as part of a bigger trade package for goalie Joseph Woll. But the changes are unlikely to stop there.
Longtime defenseman Morgan Rielly is surely going to be traded this offseason, likely to a Western Conference team, while the Maple Leafs are said to “absolutely covet” unrestricted free agent defenseman Darren Raddysh, a Toronto native who seems likely to leave the Tampa Bay Lightning this summer. So, fans can expect the Leafs to have a much different blueline next year.
What Could Maple Leafs Get for Jake McCabe in a Trade?
The Maple Leafs first acquired McCabe at the 2023 NHL trade deadline from the Blackhawks with two fifth-round picks in exchange for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, Joey Anderson, and Pavel Gogolev. The Maple Leafs had to pay a high price for McCabe because, first, other teams wanted to trade for him, and second, because the Blackhawks retained 50% of the salary on his old contract.
McCabe has been mostly excellent for the Maple Leafs as he does his job well as a top-four defensive defenseman who prefers to play a physical brand of hockey while also chipping in with the occasional point. This past season, he played in 80 games and scored 25 points for Toronto.
But with Chayka now the Maple Leafs’ GM, we know that changes are coming to a Maple Leafs’ squad that missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade this past season. Could McCabe be one of the players moved out? It’s possible, although the Leafs would likely want to get some solid assets in return for him.
The Maple Leafs are unlikely to recoup the first-round pick they sent to Chicago for McCabe, but perhaps they could get a pair of second-rounders for him, since he’s under contract for four more years at a reasonable number.
Ultimately, the Maple Leafs are a better team with McCabe on the roster. But with a new GM looking to restock his shelf of draft picks, don’t be surprised if McCabe gets dealt this summer.
Teams Calling Maple Leafs on Jake McCabe