Leafs acquire McCabe, Lafferty from Blackhawks

The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Jake McCabe, forward Sam Lafferty, and two conditional draft picks from the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.

The Maple Leafs send forward Joey Anderson, forward Pavel Gogolev, a conditional 2025 first-round pick, and a 2026 second-round pick to Chicago in the transaction.

Toronto's 2025 first-round pick is top-10 protected. If the selection is in the top 10, Chicago will receive a 2026 first-rounder, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Chicago is retaining 50% of McCabe's salary in the trade. Toronto will receive the blue-liner at a $2-million cap hit through 2024-25.

McCabe has 20 points in 55 games while averaging 19:29 per game. The 29-year-old left shot is in the second season of a four-year contract signed with the Blackhawks in 2021.

Lafferty's 10 goals and 21 points this season are already career highs. The 27-year-old is averaging 15:07 and has won 52.4% of his faceoffs. The right-shot center is signed through next season at a $1.15-million cap hit.

Anderson cleared waivers Thursday. He's played 14 games with the Maple Leafs this season, tallying two goals and three points. The 24-year-old has 14 goals and 27 points in 30 contests in the AHL and is a pending restricted free agent. He was acquired by Toronto in 2020 for Andreas Johnsson.

Gogolev was signed by the Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2021. The 23-year-old has spent a majority of the campaign in the ECHL, where he has 21 goals and 48 points in 33 games.

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