Spittin' Chiclets co-hosts crucify the Maple Leafs for their biggest off-season mistake
Photo credit: NHL on TNT
The Toronto Maple Leafs, like any team, are not perfect. Of course, as Leafs fans, we're well aware of the fact that this team and this organization has made numerous mistakes, some of which have been more costly than others. This summer alone, they made a handful of them. The John Klingberg deal is one and the Ryan Reaves deal appears to be another. However, there's another mistake they made this summer, which the Spittin' Chiclets team thinks are worse than both of those decisions.
Before the start of the 2023-24 season, the Leafs traded utility forward Sam Lafferty to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 5th round pick in this year's draft. Not only did Lafferty show himself to be a reliable and dangerous penalty killer during his time in Chicago before he was acquired by the Maple Leafs, but he's also one of the fastest players in the entire National Hockey League - something the Leafs could have desperately used this season.
On their most recent episode of Spittin' Chiclets, hosts Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette took some time to discuss the Leafs' decision to move Lafferty and explained why the move is coming back to haunt the team now.
"So they got their 1st rounder this year that they could trade. They got their 1st rounder in 2026 that they could trade. They do not have a 1st rounder in 2025, because they used that to bring over Jake McCabe, who looks great... you know who else they got in that deal? F***ing [Sam] Lafferty, and they let Lafferty go and look what he's doing for Vancouver. You're telling me Lafferty couldn't help that friggin' forward unit?! I don't know what they were looking at. That guy is money." - Ryan Whitney on the Leafs giving away Sam Lafferty
Lafferty has become a popular player in Vancouver with his fast and feisty brand of hockey, and he's been pretty productive there for a depth guy, racking up 10 goals and 19 points through 44 games so far. He has even found himself playing higher in the lineup at times, inside of the top 6. Bissonnette, a noted Maple Leafs fan, couldn't help but entirely agree with Whitney on this one.
"That's the one that got away right there. [They] needed a bulldog. Especially after losing Bunting, you needed somebody else to be able to mix it up. I thought that Benoit kid who's been called up, that defenseman's adding some snarl to their lineup, but having a guy up front playing the way that Lafferty's playing... and I think he's making just over $1M bucks. Come on here. That's a fumblef**k if I've ever seen one." - Bissonnette on the Leafs' blunder with Lafferty
When you look at the struggles that the Leafs' 4th line has endured this season, having a guy like Lafferty in Toronto rather than Ryan Reaves right now might make all of the difference. Not only is Lafferty the type of player who plays with an edge, but an extra 19 points on this Leafs team right now might be the difference between their current Wild Card spot in the standings and a race for 1st in the Atlantic Division.
In hindsight, this one was a pretty big blunder by the Leafs. Is Lafferty a star? No, but he's a useful player who was pushed out so that the Leafs could afford to pay Ryan Reaves $1.35M per season to spend 3/4 of the year in the press box. Embarrassing stuff.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 18 | 1031 ANSWERS Spittin' Chiclets co-hosts crucify the Maple Leafs for their biggest off-season mistake Is the Sam Lafferty trade the biggest mistake the Leafs have made this season? | ||
| Yes, Lafferty could have really helped this team | 329 | 31.9 % |
| The Klingberg deal was the biggest mistake | 276 | 26.8 % |
| Keeping Keefe was the biggest mistake | 201 | 19.5 % |
| Signing Reaves was the biggest mistake | 225 | 21.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
MUST READ
TRENDING NOW
