Three Former Maple Leafs Just Hit the Trade Market at Once
Photo credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images
It appears as though there are three former Maple Leafs up for grabs in Toronto as the trade deadline approaches, and chances of scenery could be nearing for Nick Foligno, Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty.
The Chicago Blackhawks started the year out better than expected, giving fans hope of a potential playoff berth in their immediate future. Unfortunately, their early success has not continued and now the organization will likely enter the trade deadline as sellers.
Among the pieces that the team may sell off, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, include three former Leafs in Mikheyev, Lafferty and Foligno.
Foligno back up for grabs
The veteran Foligno is no doubt in the twilight of his NHL career and has but a few remaining attempts at capturing an elusive Stanley Cup.
A pending UFA, at 38 years old, I doubt that the Blackhawks are opening the cheque book to bring Foligno back as they begin to transition out of their rebuild and into their playoff contention phase.
Foligno has 1 goal and 7 assists through 23 games this season.
Mikheyev offers versatility and speed
For Mikheyev, a quietly productive bottom-6 forward, it hasn't necessarily been the strongest year for him in Chicago, and a change of scenery could very well be in the cards.
Originally a free agent signing out of the KHL, Mikheyev began his NHL journey with the Leafs, playing in Toronto from 2019 through 2022 before he signed with the Vancouver Canucks as a free agent in the summer of 2022 worth a staggering $4.75M per season.
Traded to Chicago in June of 2024, Mikheyev's contract is coming to an end this season, and if the Hawks are willing to retain, I'm sure a few teams will look at the versatile forward for his penalty killing abilities alone.
Sam Lafferty offers straight line speed, but not much else
The speedy Lafferty has fallen off significantly in these last two seasons in Buffalo and Chicago, respectively. With just 1 goal and 1 assist in 17 games, I'm not sure Lafferty is more than a warm body for a non-playoff team who sells off assets at the deadline and still needs to ice an NHL lineup.
There's one more important stop between now and the trade deadline, being the 2026 Winter Olympics. There is a lot of belief that we could see teams make moves prior to the Olympic break, and at least two of these players could interest multiple teams for their role-playing abilities.
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