Blackhawks snag pair of high draft picks in exchange for McCabe, Lafferty
Although the Patrick Kane-to-New York deal remains in limbo, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson pulled off a fairly major trade Monday involving veteran defenseman Jake McCabe and do-it-all forward Sam Lafferty.
Davidson sent the duo to Toronto in exchange for forwards Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev, a conditional first-round pick in 2025 and a second-round pick in 2026. The Maple Leafs also acquired conditional fifth-round picks from the Hawks in 2024 and 2025.
The Hawks now have two first-round picks in the 2023, '24 and '25 drafts.
The Blackhawks are retaining 50% of McCabe's salary.
Davidson, who spoke with reporters before the Hawks' game at Anaheim, said the Hawks may have been able to move McCabe and Lafferty in separate deals, "but we felt the total value (here) was likely there to do them together. So it was just easier to make it a combo."
Anderson, 24, was a third-round pick of New Jersey in 2016 and spent most of the past two seasons in the AHL. He had 40 goals in 86 games during that time for the Toronto Marlies. Anderson has 72 games of NHL experience.
Gogolev has 21 goals in 33 games in the ECHL, a league two levels below the NHL.
This move should help bolster the Maple Leafs' defense.
McCabe, who came to Chicago last season after inking a four-year, $16 million deal, spent most of this year playing with Seth Jones on the Hawks' top defense pairing. He had 2 goals, 18 assists and a team-best plus-7 rating while averaging 19½ minutes of ice time.
Lafferty was one of Davidson's best finds. The sparkplug forward was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh for Alex Nylander on Jan. 5, 2022. An impressive penalty killer, Lafferty racked up a career-high 10 goals and 11 assists in 51 games for the Hawks.
His 4 short-handed goals are tied for the NHL lead with Bo Horvat and Reilly Smith.
Not much on Kane:
Kyle Davidson was asked for an update on Patrick Kane, who is in Chicago and skated at Fifth Third Arena on Sunday.
"Just in a holding pattern for now until things hopefully get to a conclusion," said Davidson, who would not comment on whether or not Kane has waived his no-movement clause. "It's a difficult decision for Patrick. ... We'll wait until there's something more formal to announce if we get there."