After Landing Nick Foligno, I Think It's Time To Legitimately Be Worried About The Stanley Cup Going Back To Canada
Claus Andersen. Getty Images.One of my favorite constants in life over the past 25 years has been the fact that no Canadian city has been able to enjoy and celebrate a Stanley Cup championship. I figure if I don't get to witness a Stanley Cup victory as a Flyers fan, I don't want anybody in Canada to be happy either. The whole saying about misery loves company, ya know?
But yesterday Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs went out and acquired who I think was the biggest prize of the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline. It wasn't Taylor Hall, who the Leafs could have clearly gotten for peanuts after seeing the deal that Boston was able to get for him. Taylor Hall is a highly skilled player but the Leafs already have like 5 different Taylor Halls on their roster, and Hall always seems to find a way to leave teams in a worse spot when he leaves than they were when he got there in the first place. Some guys just weren't put on this Earth to be a winner, and unfortunately for Taylor Hall it seems like he's one of those guys.
So for Dubas to make the smart decision and bow out of the Taylor Hall sweepstakes, and then end up paying a little more of a premium price to bring a guy like Nick Foligno into this lineup? Well now the Leafs are actually looking like a really solid playoff team.
You want to win in the Stanley Cup Playoffs? You need to add a little toughness. You need some grit. You need a little sandpaper in your lineup. But you also need some skill, you need some leadership, you need a guy who is going to contribute to your team every night even if it's not just on the scoresheet. That's the exact player that Nick Foligno is. You don't need a guy who scores a ton of goals when you already have Auston Matthews on your team. And you especially don't need a guy who you think can score a ton of goals but really has only scored twice this year and clearly hasn't given a shit since 2018. Nick Foligno can contribute offensively when he needs to. But on nights that he's not on the scoresheet, he's not going to be totally invisible.
And sure. The Leafs had to part ways with a 1st round pick to get Foligno. But two things about that--1) The Toronto Maple Leafs don't need any draft picks. The core of their franchise is already super young, and they still have some high level prospects waiting in the pipeline like Robertson, Sandin and Amirov. And 2) nobody really knows what the 2021 Draft is going to look like. Half of the kids in this draft haven't even really been able to play this year. So the Draft is going to be a total crapshoot, and you have to imagine the Leafs' pick was going to be super late 20's or maybe even 31st overall anyway. So people have to stop worrying so much about teams giving up a 1st to acquire a piece that can legitimately help you win the Cup.
Plus, it's a family affair.
Graig Abel. Getty Images.For the 2nd time in franchise history, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have a Foligno wearing #71 in the lineup. First it was his father Mike from 1990-94. And now it's Nick. So yeah, all signs point towards this being the best move at the trade deadline this year. And now I'm legitimately worried that the Cup will be making its way back to Canada for the first time since Montreal won in '93. Because the Toronto Maple Leafs are a full blown wagooooooon.