Photo credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Bobby McMann scored twice and added an assist in his first game as a Seattle Kraken. Toronto got a fourth-round pick and a second-round pick. That trade already looks like a disaster.
Since being traded to the Seattle Kraken at the NHL Trade Deadline, Bobby McMann’s first game as a member of the Kraken went as well as the team would have liked.
McMann, 29, got his first goal with Seattle late in the first period off a shot that looked that it was destined to feed Shane Wright, but snuck itself into the net.
It wasn’t the end of the scoring night for McMann, who tacked on a second goal later in the third, and along with an assist gave the former Leaf a three-point night in his first game since leaving Toronto.
One game is very much not an indicator of grading this trade whatsoever, but if Bobby McMann is able to perform consistently as impactful as he was tonight, it becomes another losing trade for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Watching a 20-goal winger flourish in Seattle is the ultimate salt in the wound for this broken season
Once again, the Toronto Maple Leafs may have lost a trade meant to offer relief, except being this time the ones on the trading end.
The moves of Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton evidently did not further the Leafs as a playoff team as they would have hoped, both players costing a first and a prospect, and underperforming.
The Leafs have not had their recent trades all so kind to them, further misery coming from the solid play of trade returns Fraser Minten & Nikita Grebenkin, who could have provided some flash to an old, slow, & boring roster.
Although Bobby McMann’s departure looked as sealed as it comes, it was already panned for Toronto failing to gain back a first round pick.
If McMann is able to be a consistent point producer in Seattle’s top-six, not only will Toronto be questioned over failing to get a first rounder, but that itself may not even have been enough of a return.
Instant chemistry with Matty Beniers proves Toronto never understood McMann’s true ceiling
Bobby McMann is benefiting from being in the Kraken’s top-six, but there’s one greater benefit he has that he wouldn’t have gotten in Toronto, that being the chance to drive his own line.
McMann has access to a lot more freedom on the Kraken’s top line, rivaling only Matthew Beniers for the chance at puck touches, but it’ll be a lot more looks for McMann than in Toronto, fighting for chances with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
Now on a team with a lot less offensive firepower, it gives Bobby McMann an expanded role that could make him an offensive leader for Seattle, and unlock more of his game as a goalscorer.
Not only does McMann have a greater role, but he gives the young Beniers a new impact winger, something that is even more necessary with an aging Jordan Eberle on his right side.
Prioritizing mid-round picks over homegrown talent reveals a punishing lack of vision in the front office
The Toronto Maple Leafs have already had one trade deadline not go their way, and a second one may push Brad Treliving out the door entirely.
No, the Leafs are not going to fire Brad Treliving just because of one good game from Bobby McMann, but McMann ending the rest of the season on a high note could be the final nail in the coffin for a job already teetering on the edge.
Treliving’s job security could come down to the question if he can make trades that benefit the roster whether as sellers or buyers, neither having found enough success that the front office would have liked.
Some criticism can also befall Craig Berube if McMann blossoms in Seattle, proving that he didn’t need his star teammates to succeed, although it would never be a full indictment on the coaching staff.
If the Radko Gudas hit on Auston Matthews has signaled the end of this season for Toronto, an equally big hit to the team came earlier in it’s roster construction.
This season could be the catalyst that signals a full rebuild in swing, bringing an end to the Matthews era in Toronto.
Previously on Hockey Patrol
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Bobby McMann’s heroics for the Kraken send an intense message to a Maple Leafs team that gave up too soon
Did Toronto make a mistake trading Bobby McMann?