Can the Toronto Maple Leafs get a first-round pick for Bobby McMann?
Sportsnet: James Mirtle on the JD Bunkis Podcast, when asked if the Toronto Maple Leafs should trade pending UFA forward Bobby McMann, and what they could get for him if they do make him available?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Mirtle: “I think it’s probably pretty high. You talk extension with him. You see what happens in these games here, and if you feel close enough.
But with the number that’s rumored out there of $5 million a season, that makes me nervous. Because I think market value, look at what Bobby McMahon’s done. I think he’s more like a $4 million player. But if you’re going $5 million with term on him, you’ve never seen him be successful in the playoffs, I think you sell high.
And I don’t know if you can get a first-round pick, but you might be able to get a first-round pick. The only the tricky thing with the first round pick is not very many of the contenders that would want Bobby McMann, have a first round pick, unless you go to 2027.
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Bunkis: “Which I think for the Leafs is (fine??).
Mirtle: “So, yeah, yeah. So maybe it’s the, the talk out there is people think he’s worth what keeper Sherwood got from, from San Jose when they picked him up from Vancouver, and that was two second-round picks. Which I think is a fine trade for the Leafs to make.
Bunkis: “I think if you got an early second-round pick in this draft and a second in the following for Bobby McMahon, you’d sign up for that immediately over even one first-round pick in 2027.
Mirtle: “A lot of the contenders don’t have an early second-round pick, right? Because their second round picks going to be at the back of the (round). So, you know, it might be, you know, a mid-second rounder and a late one or two late second-round picks.
So, I know it’s not ideal. I think you try and get the first round pick. I just don’t know if Bobby McMann is going to get that done or not.
Bunkis: “Well, that’s the tricky thing about the Edmonton rumors, right? Like, everyone has already basically put him in an Oilers uniform. Like he’s from here and they need him. Like, okay. But Edmonton doesn’t exactly have what Toronto needs.
The only reason why I would assume that McMann has the asking or the price point that we’re talking about right now is, like, what we’ve all brought up, which is, you can slide him into your team without having to get out the scalpel and cut out something else of significance. It’s just like he’s an easy fit because of that contract.
Which would to me say, yeah, that’s, there’s, there’s a real value in that, even if you do have to re-sign him. The idea that you can just staple him into your group without removing somebody else is huge.
Yeah. I mean, the Leafs have all their retention slots, and I think anyone they trade out, they got to retain 50% on the deal. And, so for Bobby McMann or Scott Laughton or even Simon Benoit, that’s a guy you’re trading, and you want to retain on. Those are contracts all of a sudden become less than league minimum, and they’re so easy to fit in.
And it’s going to be harder for the contending teams with the playoff salary cap. And it’s going to matter more that you get that retention. You get those low numbers. Otherwise, you’re going to be sitting players you don’t want to sit in the playoffs.
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So I think that absolutely adds some value. And all of these years that the Leafs have been paying that extra fourth-round pick to get the retention on, they should potentially be the beneficiaries of that this year with the guys are trading.
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