(Trade) Sam Lafferty to Vancouver

[Blitz-Pix]

45 minutes ago, DeNiro said:

Yea it seems like some people don’t realize how fringe our fringe players were.

 

Lafferty is an NHLer. Grabbing depth guys from deep teams that are contenders is a smart move. You know they come from a good system and were coached well.

 

 

Just to be clear...he came to the Leafs from CHICAGO at the trade deadline.  The same Blackhawks team that featured Jason Dickinson at the 1st line center for large parts of last season.  So lets not get to carried away with what we're getting here...last season was FAR AND AWAY a career year for Lafferty. 

 

IMO he should add speed and A LITTLE grit to our forecheck. He's very proficient on the PK from everything I've seen so far. This trade MIGHT make us a little better and harder to play against. Time will tell, it he sounds like a Tocc player (kinda like PDG is). A overview (Good and Bad) on Lafferty from last years TDL 

 

Buyer Beware

One of Lafferty’s biggest drawbacks is a lack of natural awareness. He fails to process danger especially well through the neutral and defensive zones and can get caught puck watching or taking poor angles on puck carriers as they attack the middle of the ice. That leads to higher quality chances against when he can’t use his wheels to recover in time.

 

While Lafferty does finish hits hard, he also is not as consistent as maybe desired competitively. There are periods and games where he floats. And for a player who spends a significant chunk of his ice time on the penalty kill, he doesn’t block nearly enough shots. He has just 18 blocked shots this season.

One other item to beware: Lafferty is in the midst of a career year and is shooting 13.1 percent. He has raw physical ability, especially skating, but even at age 27 still hasn’t put it all together yet. He could be far more effective with his toolkit.

 

Scouting Report

Lafferty has elite NHL-level speed. With the puck on the rush, he can push defenders back and create space for himself or teammates to enter the zone and create better looks on offense. He isn’t necessarily a natural distributor, so he is better without the puck in transition, but he can use his speed to force weak-side defenders off the blueline and then create lanes underneath or get behind defenders for breakaways. He also effectively harnesses his speed to recover quickly and attack the net, forcing defenders to acknowledge him.

 

Lafferty is second only to Vegas’ Reilly Smith in shorthanded goals scored this season with three. His speed makes him a threat on the penalty kill. His best role on the ‘kill is as the tip of the spear in the neutral zone formation, he has a knack for attacking the drop pass and then recovering back quickly to pressure the puck as it enters his defensive zone. In the zone, Lafferty can punch out to pressure the puck, but can lack attention to detail at times.

 

 

[Gawdzukes]

4 hours ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

I dont love that we waived Studnicka after he had a good camp. He in my opinion earned his spot to be at least on the main roster. 

 

Dont love the messaging the organization is sending. They told him to come in shape and reinvent his game. He comes in does everything they ask him to, and was the only one that seemed to play with a semblence of desperation and urgency. 

 

There are more deserving guys that deserved to get waived. 

 

Like who? Not many other fringe players on the roster, Aman, Hoglander, or Joshua. Hoglander is still younger and our own draft pick. Joshua brings size like an extra 15 pounds and 1 inches that the others don't. I get that he worked hard but you also need to bring something to to the game. I guess Aman could have been sent down but at the end of the day I trust the coaches assessment.

[Hammertime]

11 minutes ago, AatuD2 said:

 

We could really use someone like Gadjovich back on this team. 

 

 

https://www.hockeyfights.com/players/21004

 

This is Sam Lafferty's fight tally, not too shabby. 

 

I think that Alvin realized that our team was gonna get pushed around too much and decided to add a mix between a goon and a useful bottom 6 guy. 

Sure I suppose he can get punched a bunch 

[AatuD2]

46 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 
Lafferty basically replaces Studnicka in the lineup. When Mikheyev is back they will send down Aman. 
 

Kuzmenko   Pettersson   Mikheyev 

PDG             Miller            Boeser 

Beauvillier   Suter            Garland 

Joshua        Blueger        Rafferty 

Höglander

 

That’s probably gonna be our forward group right now. The only line I am concerned about is the 3rd line. It is small and even smaller of Höglander is on it.
 

We’ll need to upgrade it if we want to be a playoff team. Adding a big body to the 3rd line would make our forward group almost complete. 

 

I'm still hopeful that we can keep Beauvillier's value fairly high and ship him out at the trade deadline to a team that needs scoring. 

 

Garland to a bottom feeder that needs scoring and excitement for the fans would work as well, although the return would have to be much higher then Beau's rental price. 

[Rekker]

For what it's worth, Leafs fans don't like the deal.......forget that, Leafs fans don't know much of anything really. 

[AatuD2]

1 minute ago, Hammertime said:

Sure I suppose he can get punched a bunch 

 

Yeah he's not gonna scare anyone or keep the other team honest. 

 

My wish list for this team is 

 

1. Right handed dman 

2. Fighter to keep the other team honest 

 

Lucic would've been the perfect 13th forward to carry into games like the Edmonton double header. 

There's nobody to keep guys like Nurse and Desharnais accountable on our team. Taking a run at Petey, Quinn, or Demko is a perfectly viable strategy with no downsides besides a minor penalty they have to kill off. 

[Hogs and Podz]

46 minutes ago, DavidGoliath said:

Joshua really needs to get it in gear more consistently. Trouble is he is basically lazy and not naturally aggressive despite the size. Toc will keep prodding though.

Yah... Unfortunately he has a little of that aloof and apathetic disposition that Virtanen had.  I hope I'm wrong but so far, not to happy with him.  Just like Virtanen, he's frustrating to watch a majority of the time be ause you see the skill, size etc is there... And flash that potential from time to time... But not often enough.  Not saying he is a carbon copy of Virtanen's disposition but I see bits.... And I don't like it one bit lol!!!

[canuck73_3]

41 minutes ago, DavidGoliath said:

We can’t really trade him while he’s on waivers.

And if he clears, who would be a buyer then?

Well he would be cleared tomorrow if still ours and I didn’t entirely mean literally, just that 5th round picks are easily attainable. Weird how much crying there is when one is moved. 

[cripplereh]

Weird trade unless something else happens.

[DeNiro]

14 minutes ago, Blitz-Pix said:

Just to be clear...he came to the Leafs from CHICAGO at the trade deadline.  The same Blackhawks team that featured Jason Dickinson at the 1st line center for large parts of last season.  So lets not get to carried away with what we're getting here...last season was FAR AND AWAY a career year for Lafferty. 

 

IMO he should add speed and A LITTLE grit to our forecheck. He's very proficient on the PK from everything I've seen so far. This trade MIGHT make us a little better and harder to play against. Time will tell, it he sounds like a Tocc player (kinda like PDG is). A overview (Good and Bad) on Lafferty from last years TDL 

 

Buyer Beware

One of Lafferty’s biggest drawbacks is a lack of natural awareness. He fails to process danger especially well through the neutral and defensive zones and can get caught puck watching or taking poor angles on puck carriers as they attack the middle of the ice. That leads to higher quality chances against when he can’t use his wheels to recover in time.

 

While Lafferty does finish hits hard, he also is not as consistent as maybe desired competitively. There are periods and games where he floats. And for a player who spends a significant chunk of his ice time on the penalty kill, he doesn’t block nearly enough shots. He has just 18 blocked shots this season.

One other item to beware: Lafferty is in the midst of a career year and is shooting 13.1 percent. He has raw physical ability, especially skating, but even at age 27 still hasn’t put it all together yet. He could be far more effective with his toolkit.

 

Scouting Report

Lafferty has elite NHL-level speed. With the puck on the rush, he can push defenders back and create space for himself or teammates to enter the zone and create better looks on offense. He isn’t necessarily a natural distributor, so he is better without the puck in transition, but he can use his speed to force weak-side defenders off the blueline and then create lanes underneath or get behind defenders for breakaways. He also effectively harnesses his speed to recover quickly and attack the net, forcing defenders to acknowledge him.

 

Lafferty is second only to Vegas’ Reilly Smith in shorthanded goals scored this season with three. His speed makes him a threat on the penalty kill. His best role on the ‘kill is as the tip of the spear in the neutral zone formation, he has a knack for attacking the drop pass and then recovering back quickly to pressure the puck as it enters his defensive zone. In the zone, Lafferty can punch out to pressure the puck, but can lack attention to detail at times.

 

 

Well good thing we don’t need him for his point totals. 

From all accounts he’s a good forechecker, hard worker, and can kill penalties. That makes him an upgrade over Studnicka. How much of an upgrade remains to be seen but he’s an upgrade nonetheless.

 

Its great to see management still looking to upgrade the roster at this stage even if it’s minor upgrades.

[Dr. Crossbar]

1 hour ago, syntheticity said:

For those trying to assess Lafferty's value, it's worth recalling what the Leafs gave up to get him & McCabe last Spring. 

 

They surrendered a 2025 first-round pick, a 2026 second-round pick, plus forwards Joey Anderson and Pavel Gogolev to Chicago to acquire Lafferty & McCabe.

 

The canucks gave up a 5th round pick.

 

Time will tell if Lafferty yields a significant upgrade on the Canucks' 4th line. 

 

But his recent market value appears to be significantly higher than a 5th round pick.

 

Pretty much this ...

 

[canuck73_3]

40 minutes ago, Hammertime said:

B)  big Mac got himself a 3 year deal and Dadjovich is still w the sharks. 

And with one phone call them or someone like them could be a Canuck. Hence easily attainable. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by canuck73_3

[King Heffy]

1 hour ago, DeNiro said:

Yea it seems like some people don’t realize how fringe our fringe players were.

 

Lafferty is an NHLer. Grabbing depth guys from deep teams that are contenders is a smart move. You know they come from a good system and were coached well.

 

 

Toronto sure as hell isn't coached well.

[Blitz-Pix]

1 minute ago, DeNiro said:

Its great to see management still looking to upgrade the roster at this stage even if it’s minor upgrades.

 

And that didn't cost us to much to aquire. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

1 minute ago, canuck73_3 said:

And with one phone call them or someone like them could be a Canuck. Hence easily attainable. 

 

A phone call and a bag of ...

 

[JeremyCuddles]

13 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 
Lafferty basically replaces Studnicka in the lineup. When Mikheyev is back they will send down Aman. 
 

Kuzmenko   Pettersson   Mikheyev 

PDG             Miller            Boeser 

Beauvillier   Suter            Garland 

Joshua        Blueger        Rafferty 

Höglander

 

That’s probably gonna be our forward group right now. The only line I am concerned about is the 3rd line. It is small and even smaller of Höglander is on it.
 

We’ll need to upgrade it if we want to be a playoff team. Adding a big body to the 3rd line would make our forward group almost complete. 

For real, it's very concerning how small that 3rd line is. Really wish Podkolzin could have stepped up his game over the offseason. Not a giant by any means but he's decently big. Either way, Lafferty is a solid pickup for us. Continuing to build a strong 4th line. Our 3rd line is gonna have to be the 60-70% ozone start line. Keep them from getting hemmed in the dzone via their smaller size. I can see that 4th line playing similar to Beagle's 4th line of days passed. 15-20% ozone starts. Just purely there to take the defensive burden off the weaker, physically, 3rd line.

 

Garland and Beau aren't bad defensively, but due to their size you can see that being hard to overcome defensively. Suter is 5'11, so he's not exactly a big feller himself. It's definitely the biggest weakness on the roster right now.

[DeNiro]

Just now, King Heffy said:

Toronto sure as hell isn't coached well.

Yea but Pittsburgh is. That’s where he was developed.

 

Probably why he works hard and shows up in the playoffs, unlike the Leafs

[R3aL]

Is Sam better than Aman and or Studnika and or Joshua? 
 

I’ve not watched him play really and even when I have I’ve not noticed him it seems 

[R3aL]

1 hour ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 
Lafferty basically replaces Studnicka in the lineup. When Mikheyev is back they will send down Aman. 
 

Kuzmenko   Pettersson   Mikheyev 

PDG             Miller            Boeser 

Beauvillier   Suter            Garland 

Joshua        Blueger        Rafferty 

Höglander

 

That’s probably gonna be our forward group right now. The only line I am concerned about is the 3rd line. It is small and even smaller of Höglander is on it.
 

We’ll need to upgrade it if we want to be a playoff team. Adding a big body to the 3rd line would make our forward group almost complete. 

Haven’t they already sent Aman down though 

[canuck73_3]

6 minutes ago, AatuD2 said:

 

Yeah he's not gonna scare anyone or keep the other team honest. 

 

My wish list for this team is 

 

1. Right handed dman 

2. Fighter to keep the other team honest 

 

Lucic would've been the perfect 13th forward to carry into games like the Edmonton double header. 

There's nobody to keep guys like Nurse and Desharnais accountable on our team. Taking a run at Petey, Quinn, or Demko is a perfectly viable strategy with no downsides besides a minor penalty they have to kill off. 

Fighter to keep team honest is a myth especially now, if it were true no one would have cheapshot Vegas or Ranger players with Reavo on the team.  And more will cheapshot Leafs with Reavo there too. 
 

The designated fighter in the NHL is almost completely dead. 
 

I agree we do need team toughness improvements though. Lafferty and Blueger is a good start to that. 

[DeNiro]

1 minute ago, R3aL said:

Is Sam better than Aman and or Studnika and or Joshua? 
 

I’ve not watched him play really and even when I have I’ve not noticed him it seems 

Basically a Tyler Motte with better size, maybe a little less offensive skill.

[Breadnbutta]

The sportsnet trade report on their fb page has quite a few pissed off fans. Lots say "wtf why? Lafferty plays hard"

 

So I'd call this trade a win lol

[MikeyD]

The move we've all been waiting for!!! 4th liners are so hard to find mannnn

[King Heffy]

3 minutes ago, Breadnbutta said:

The sportsnet trade report on their fb page has quite a few pissed off fans. Lots say "wtf why? Lafferty plays hard"

 

So I'd call this trade a win lol

Toronto fans also think their joke of a team is good and make excuses for their AHL quality blueline.  They aren't a reliable source.

[Dr. Crossbar]

It's interesting ... Lafferty plays hard, has pushback, isn't afraid to drop the gloves.

 

Same with the addition of Hronek.

 

Look at promoted players like PDG, his effort, along with Blueger, the addition of Cole, and we are changing the culture. 

 

We're getting guys with higher, better levels of compete.