The long-rumoured Bobby McMann trade finally happened, and the return is less than was hoped for from the Maple Leafs’ perspective.
After months of speculation, the Leafs ultimately traded McMann to the Seattle Kraken for a second-round draft pick (2027) and a fourth-round draft pick (2026). Adding a second pick was always the bare minimum, but this is an underwhelming return, and the second-round pick isn’t even this year’s.
After this trade, the Leafs now have a third, a fourth, two fifths, and a sixth in the upcoming draft (pending a possible Scott Laughton return). That is hardly a big reward to look forward to after suffering through this campaign.
The Nashville Predators were able to add a second-round pick this year for Mike McCarron, who has fewer points than McMann has goals and isn’t able to play up the lineup the way McMann can. The return doesn’t even sniff the two seconds that Kiefer Sherwood netted the Vancouver Canucks, either. Their trading partner, the Seattle Kraken, has two firsts in 2026, two firsts in 2027, and their second in 2026, but the Leafs settled for the worst of the lot: a second in 2027.
Yes, the Leafs had to get something for the pending UFA, but they left this until the very end and got an underwhelming return. As the clock approached 3 p.m. EST, it was clear they were trending toward a “take what you can get” territory, rather than having a proactive GM with a plan who could execute an actual vision and maximize value.
This isn’t a terrible return, but it’s not good, and it will lead to a deeper conversation about their overall management group. That’s the real story today.
When it came to the decision to trade McMann in the first place, this ultimately came down to money. It was clear the Leafs were interested in retaining him, and McMann had interest in extending his time in Toronto, but they couldn’t make the contract work. The difficulty was only compounded this week when Kiefer Sherwood signed a five-year extension worth $5.75 million per season. McMann surely looked at the comparable and believes there is no way he should sign for less than $5 million per season right now — which is fair and his right. On the flip side, if his contract ultimately falls around that number — or at the least, if that’s the ask right now — the Leafs were also right to walk away and trade him for the best possible return.
As we have said repeatedly over the past month, there was a scenario where it was fair to retain McMann on a reasonable contract. He’s one of the fastest players in the league, he’s a solid middle-six winger, and he can score. The Leafs will likely attempt to be competitive next season, and McMann was closer to a solution than a problem on this team. But he isn’t a sign-at-all-costs player, and the parties couldn’t agree on a number that made sense for both sides.
Moving forward, the Leafs still have four wingers locked in with term: Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, Dakota Joshua, and Steven Lorentz. Nick Robertson and Matias Maccelli are pending RFAs as well. Through that lens, they really didn’t need to sign McMann unless it was a team-friendly contract.
McMann was a nice development story who worked his way up from the ECHL to become a solid middle-six forward who scored 20 goals last season and should exceed that number this season. Part of the feel-good success story is that McMann did it all under a contract in which he was making $1.35 million. The story isn’t nearly as appealing at over five million per season, so here we are.
The return is middling, but overpaying McMann was out of the question.
