The Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Toronto Maple Leafs Saturday night in a clash of teams who have struggled since the Olympic break and dabbled in the trade market on Friday.
The Maple Leafs were more active. They traded forward Bobby McMann to the Seattle Kraken at the trade deadline on Friday for a 2027 second-round draft pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick. McMann had 19 goals and 13 assists this season for Toronto.
The Maple Leafs also traded forward Scott Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a 2026 third-rounder. Laughton had eight goals and four assists in 43 games with Toronto this season.
The Lightning acquired forward Corey Perry from the Kings Friday for a 2028 second-round draft pick. Perry, 40, previously played for the Lightning for two seasons, including the team’s 2022 run to the Stanley Cup Final.
“Corey is a winner with a proven track record in the playoffs,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said. “He will bring snarl to our group. He will give additional scoring ability to our bottom six. With Corey Perry, it’s not all about production, it’s also about the leadership he brings to our group and the influence he has on other players.”
Perry had 11 goals and 17 assists for the Kings this season.
“There’s still some unfinished business, personally and with Tampa,” Perry said. “I’m excited to join the organization again and see some familiar faces.”
The Maple Leafs are 0-4-2 since the break after their 6-2 road loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday as their playoff hopes become remote.
“I’ll take responsibility for our season,” Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said. “I don’t look at today (Friday) as the autopsy day. We’ve got 19 games to go, but I think there’s a whole host of reasons.”
The Maple Leafs did not play McMann, Laughton and Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Thursday for the second game in a row with potential trades in mind. The deals gave the Maple Leafs a chance to build up their draft choices.
“We made a decision a while ago, before the break, that we were going to be as active as we could as far as trying to recoup some assets, whether it be picks or prospects,” Treliving said.
The Lightning returned from the break with a 4-2 home win over the Maple Leafs but have dropped four straight since, most recently a 4-1 road loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. The Lightning remain in first place in the Atlantic Division, tied with Buffalo on points but with two games in hand.
“We’ll be fine, and we’ve got a great group in there,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Sometimes, you ultimately get judged by your wins and losses, and right now we’ve been trending down since the break.”
On Thursday, Toronto traded Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round and a fifth-round draft pick.
“This is all difficult, this stuff,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “This is a guy we brought in and he’s played pretty well for us. Tough to see him go, but that’s the situation we’re in.”
Roy had five goals and 15 assists in 59 games for Toronto. He was acquired in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Mitch Marner to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Vancouver Canucks claimed forward Curtis Douglas off waivers from the Lightning on Friday.
Toronto’s Auston Matthews has not scored a goal in 10 games.
–Field Level Media
