Michael Grabner acquired by Toronto Maple Leafs in six-player deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs have acquired winger Michael Grabner from the New York Islanders in exchange for forwards Taylor Beck and Carter Verhaeghe, defencemen Matt Finn and Tom Nilsson, and goaltender Christopher Gibson.

The soon-to-be 28-years-old Grabner hasn’t hit 20 goals or 30 points since 2011-12, a year after he scored 34 goals in a breakout 2010-11 season. Injuries have played a part, as he’s played only 98 games over the last two seasons. He’s a streaky scorer who can score in bunches when he’s hot, and is unquestionably one of the best skaters in the league, with a knack for breaking in alone on goalies. He has only one year remaining on a $3 million AAV deal, although he’ll be paid $5 million in real salary in 2015-16 – probably a big part of the motivation for the trade on the Isles’ side of things.

Opportunity (or lack thereof) has also hindered Grabner, as he only played 13 minutes a game for the Isles last season and played 1:12 total on the powerplay all season. His HERO chart tells the story of a middle-of-the-road possession player who can outscore his role from a goal-scoring standpoint. In the past, he’s been a regular penalty killing option and a shorthanded goal threat thanks to his speed, scoring six of his 34 down a man during the 2010-11 season.

Shanahan and Lamoriello have shed a bunch of Standard Player Contracts (now down to 45) by expelling a collection of inherited depth prospects here, and the flexibility – to go along with cap room – is undoubtedly valuable as far as any future player movement is concerned. On the flipside, there is obvious risk in trading away a group of five developing prospects aged 24 and under; while none of the players involved are considered premiere prospects, a few could turn out and provide value.

Defenceman Matt Finn, a former second round pick, arguably hasn’t shown any progress since the Memorial Cup run with Guelph in 2013-14. His skating, a noticeable weakness, hasn’t shown any visible signs of improvement, and he showed up to Marlies camp unprepared (by his own admission) last season before struggling with injury and poor play (his most recent rookie tournament showing did him no favours, either). Also moving out from the Leafs‘ prospect depth on the blueline is Tom Nilsson, a 22-year-old right hander and former fourth round pick in 2011 who made his move over from Sweden last season and put up six points in 45 games with the Marlies.

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The inclusion of goaltender Christopher Gibson, who led the Marlies in starts with 45 last year, appears to be an endorsement of Antoine Bibeau and Garret Sparks’ abilities to split the workload next season while providing potential depth options to the big club. At this point in time, the position looks somewhat thin should one of Reimer or Bernier go down to injury for any significant amount of time. It might be something the team has to address depending on how the tandems start the year.

Taylor Beck’s Leaf tenure, as it turns out, was comprised of a couple of informal team skates. He is the only current NHLer moving out in the deal, as he played 60+ games for Nashville last season, accumulating 16 points. Ultimately, the Leafs only gave up Jamie Devane for him earlier in the summer, and he’s 24 and hasn’t played a full season yet, but if you dig into his 2014-15 numbers a little bit there is some promise there. The biggest thing here may be that Beck was in tough to make the team, based on the numbers game, and he is waiver eligible.

Niagara Ice Dogs center Carter Verhaeghe, a third round pick in 2013, posted the exact same point total in his draft+2 year as he did on his +1 (82 points). Those are decent junior numbers, although he didn’t take a decisive step forward last year, and his skating and physicality have a ways to go if he’s to become an NHL center down the road.

Besides the SPC space availed by the move, the Leafs‘ need for scoring might provide Grabner with some looks on the top lines. He has a 34-goal season to his name and could put up numbers in the right fit, given more minutes than his 13/game in New York last year. If he isn’t long for Toronto, ideally management could turn him into a good pick — something Leafs brass can hopefully turn into more than a “depth prospect,” which must be their assessment of the collection of players moving out in this deal.

We’ll have to wait and see how many, if any, of the new SPC spaces are used on the Leafs’ PTO players (who could, in turn, be moved for picks if all goes well), or if any of their camp invitees get signed, or if something bigger is in store. This move has opened some wiggle room going into camp.

Michael Grabner Scouting Report

Courtesy of McKeen’s (buy their Yearbook!):

Michael Grabner Statistics

Michael Grabner Highlights