The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded Jared McCann to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Filip Hallander and a 2023 seventh-round pick.
Thoughts from the media
Matt Vensel: “Always made sense for the #Pens to try to trade one of their many wingers before the expansion draft for whatever they could get. Found a match in Toronto. McCann is popular among the analytics crowd. Skilled but streaky. Moving onto his fourth NHL team already.”
Cap Friendly: “Hallander is expansion draft exempt, while McCann is not”
Mike DeFabo: “Per source, the Penguins would have left Jared McCann unprotected. Making this trade now, the Penguins get a prospect and a pick for a player they might have otherwise lost for nothing.”
Lance Hornby: “New Leaf Jared McCann, a former Soo Greyhound, surprise, surprise. Five years with Florida and Pittsburgh. Hallander back to Pittsburgh where he came for Kapanen.”
David Alter: “If you wondered, like I have, if the #Leafs already have a deal with the Kraken in their back pocket, that McCann deal could be the strongest hint yet.”
JFresh: “Excellent move by the Leafs. Very versatile player who can play around the lineup. Benefitted from some unsustainable shooting luck this season (on-ice especially) but his track record defensively is quite strong.”
David Alter: “Of note re: McCann, he’s entering seventh season and he’ll be 26 when his contract expires. Because he didn’t accrue the minimum 40 games played/on the roster in 2016-17, he’ll be a restricted free agent, as opposed to unrestricted free agent.”
Adam Gretz: “In the end the Penguins are essentially going to lose two players as a result of the expansion draft (McCann, and whoever Seattle takes) instead of just letting Seattle take one of your fourth liners who would have been easy to replace. Feels like they over throught it.”
Seth Rorabaugh: “My $0.02:
The Penguins flip a good player they might have lost in the expansion draft for a good prospect they won’t lose and clear almost $3 million off the cap to make other moves.
Sound asset management.”
Jared McCann, acquired by TOR, is a very good two-way middle six forward who can play wing and centre. He’s got a good shot and has produced very efficiently in the past few seasons. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/VicSYzYOID
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 17, 2021
Filip Hallander is a better prospect than I thought but still… pic.twitter.com/nuRzlDgMjG
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 17, 2021
I like the #LeafsForever acquisition of Jared McCann. An underrated third-line center with tantalizing potential.
Plus he’s a Stratford boy.Impressive player usage chart.https://t.co/pkyAyLdYK6#FantasyHockey #HockeyTwitter pic.twitter.com/S9Cz2nh1HF
— Dobber (@DobberHockey) July 17, 2021