The Toronto Maple Leafs will not wait any longer for an upgrade in net. After falling to the New York Rangers tonight, the team has acquired Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford from the Los Angeles Kings. In return, the Kings will receive depth forward Trevor Moore, a third-round pick in 2020 (CBJ) and a conditional third-round pick in 2021. That pick will become a second if the team re-signs Clifford or the Maple Leafs make the playoffs and Campbell wins six regular season games. The Kings will also retain 50% of Clifford’s remaining salary.
Toronto had been struggling all season to find a reliable backup goaltender and with Frederik Andersen’s recent injury, were forced to play Michael Hutchinson again this evening. After four goals against—including one laughable mishap where Hutchinson fell down and lost his stick—Maple Leafs’ GM Kyle Dubas had apparently seen enough. It comes as little surprise that Campbell would be a target of Dubas, who once traded for the goaltender while still running the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Campbell, 28, comes to Toronto after quite the journey. The 11th overall pick in 2010, the big goaltender had shown plenty of promise as part of the U.S. National Team Development Program. Unfortunately that success didn’t really carry over to the CHL or AHL ranks, and he struggled to even make it up the Dallas Stars’ depth chart. By 2015-16 he was splitting time between the AHL and ECHL, looking like a failed draft pick.
In came the Kings and goaltending coach Bill Ranford, who turned Campbell from a failed prospect to a part-time starter last season. Now through 58 career NHL games, he carries a .916 save percentage and a lot of hope for Maple Leafs’ fans.
Not to be forgotten in the deal is Clifford, who will cost just what remains of $800K for Toronto down the stretch. That essentially makes him the same price as Moore, though he comes with some very obvious stylistic differences. Clifford is an extremely physical forward who is willing to stand up for his teammates and punish defenders as they go back for the puck. A lack of physicality has been a critique of the Maple Leafs for some time, though we’ll have to wait and see if he can bring that on a regular basis.
For the Kings, Moore represents another potential forward piece for their rebuild. The 24-year old was signed out of the University of Denver in 2016 and produced very well at the minor league level, but was limited to mostly fourth line duties in Toronto. He has 13 points through 52 career games, but brings a ton of speed to a lineup that has been looking for it. Not only will Moore likely get a bigger opportunity in Los Angeles, but the Thousand Oaks, California native will be a lot closer to home.
Well done TO,,,,good pickup, and reasonable return,,,,,and Campbell being under contract past this yr is huge,,,,cap room willl be freed up next yr,,,good move!
And,,,,,,,Clifford is great sandpaper!
Good trade for the Leafs. They didn’t give much of anything up in this deal. No good prospects. No high draft picks & they got the Kings to retain half of Clifford’s salary. The Kings return isn’t much at all
a 2nd rounder is a pretty high pick for a backup goalie. the leafs have to re-sign clifford or they to make the playoffs and campbell has to win 6 games but it seems possible. maybe they let clifford leave but making the playoffs is the whole point of this trade and the leafs are supposed to be a playoff team so the only thing is whether or not campbell can win 6 games. it’s unlikely they traded for him just to not play him and andersen isnt back yet so i would say the chances of them having to give up the 2nd round pick is very high.
depending on how even you think a trade between clifford and moore is, it seems the leafs will be giving up a 2nd and a 3rd for a backup goalie…
Would have traded Moore for Clifford straight up . Hutch goes back to what he is and that’s a somewhere between 2-3
A steal for Toronto!
2nd and 3rd round pick for a backup is a steal?
Plus 4th line grit that’s had x2 the season Moore has. And Freddie hasn’t been cleared yet so who knows how many games he will play
Those picks are likely to be lower in those rounds, and “may” not even turn out to be legit NHL’ers, but rather depth insurance in Ontario. Plus, TOR was operating from a position of lessened leverage. On paper, Jack Campbell “should” perform better than Hutchinson, but we’ll see how he reacts to the undue heat of the TOR market & media. They might get a bump from him not being in the cesspool of LA and having a chance at the playoffs in TOR.
Nice trade for the Kings.
A rather paltry return the Kings got in that deal. Did the Leafs at least send some Canadian beer the Kings way?
@Gbear — Yep, it has the label “Strange Brew”, by Bob & Doug McKenzie
Hope so
Backup goalie and a 4th line grinder for two top-100 picks? Sign me up.
Toronto didn’t pull off a “steal” here. They had to pay for what they wanted.
Every GM in the league knew Toronto needed a backup goaltender so I guess it could have been a lot worse.
Give credit to Dubas for getting this done now. A second rounder and Moore for these two guys isn’t a steal…
Problem with this trade for Toronto…. it didnt involve a RHD….. or any D man for that instance.
Is this normal in NHL trades to have the “6-win and Pick gets higher” caveat? Interesting.
It’s common enough to have that sort of condition attached to the pick. Though having it settled at 6 wins is a little different than the usual 5 or 10. Montreal attached a similar condition when they traded Al Montoya to Edmonton a few years ago. Montreal received a conditional 5th rounder in return that turned into a 4th rounder provided Montoya played 7 or more games of at least 30 minutes(he played 9 games for Edmonton, 8 of which he had 30+ minutes of time).
Clifford is a talentless meathead with hands of stone and Campbell is an AHL goalie. The Kings fleeced the MapleTards.
Scully I like you…..I kill you last!
I thought Vin Scully already passed away or is there such thing as reincarnation ?
He didn’t pass away…he just retired
Could’ve had Georgiev for a jug of syrup