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The Toronto Maple Leafs will be searching for blueline and forward depth before the March 3rd trade deadline, and there continue to be reports that the team they are talking to is the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks are in the midst of a full-on tank to get a top first-round pick in the 2023 Draft and GMs Kyle Dubas and Kyle Davidson have made deals before.
The two clubs swapped draft picks at the 2022 Draft in Montreal, with Toronto trading down out of the bottom of the first round to the top of the second for the Hawks taking on the final year of goalie Petr Mrazek’s deal.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Toronto has interest in both Hawks defensemen Jake McCabe and Connor Murphy. McCabe has extensive experience in the Atlantic Division, playing most of his career with the Buffalo Sabres his limited seven-team no-trade list does not include the Leafs, but the 29-year-old blueliner has a $4 million cap hit and an extensive injury history.
Murphy has been connected to Toronto in the past, but his salary ($4.4 million), term (through 2025-26), and relatively unspectacular career supersede his positive attributes (being right-handed and his 6’4” 212 lb. frame).
It does not appear that Toronto has an interest in forward Max Domi, since he carries a hefty price tag ($3 million) and they passed on the opportunity to sign him last summer, as well as trading for either of the high-priced tandem of Patrick Kane or Jonathan Toews, but they could have interest in forward Sam Lafferty. The former Penguin has eight goals in 42 games for the Hawks, can play all three forward positions, and is signed through 2023-24 at $1.15 million. The Hawks are playing hard to get with Lafferty, as they did with Brandon Hagel last deadline. That paid off with Tampa giving up a pair of first-round picks and forwards Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh.
Lafferty has good speed and is an excellent penalty killer (three shorthanded goals), which would help the Leafs bottom-six depth, but he may cost them one of their better prospects in a deal.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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