O'Reilly's the one that hurts. Vancouver prioritized a pick the Canes didn't have. Not much you can do there. San Jose liked New Jersey's assets better. Okay. In the O'Reilly case, St. Louis got a futures package led by a pick that is just a couple slots better at the moment.
The juxtaposition between Carolina and Toronto is really interesting. Same conference. The teams are 5 and 7 years into their playoff stretches. Both are seen as analytically inclined. Toronto has spent significant assets on Muzzin, Foligno, Giordano, O'Reilly and McCabe in-season, with the middle 3 being expensive rentals. Carolina has not given up anything higher than a 3rd rounder in a transaction outside of Kotkaniemi since 2020. The Leafs have made 9 picks in the Top 3 rounds over the past 4 drafts. The Canes have drafted 17 times by comparison. You would think the team with the more significant prior investment in prospects would be the more aggressive one in dealing futures picks. Yet, it's gone the other way.
The juxtaposition between Carolina and Toronto is really interesting. Same conference. The teams are 5 and 7 years into their playoff stretches. Both are seen as analytically inclined. Toronto has spent significant assets on Muzzin, Foligno, Giordano, O'Reilly and McCabe in-season, with the middle 3 being expensive rentals. Carolina has not given up anything higher than a 3rd rounder in a transaction outside of Kotkaniemi since 2020. The Leafs have made 9 picks in the Top 3 rounds over the past 4 drafts. The Canes have drafted 17 times by comparison. You would think the team with the more significant prior investment in prospects would be the more aggressive one in dealing futures picks. Yet, it's gone the other way.