Yesterday, the Leafs announced that they had traded Sam Lafferty to the Vancouver Canucks for a 5th-round pick. Immediately, that seems like a loss, as he was acquired for more than that just a few years ago.
The Leafs have been in trouble since the beginning of the offseason with regard to being cap-compliant. Now, with the Leafs facing decisions regarding waivers, they were forced to make a move that would allow them to keep the most amount of players on the roster, for the smallest cost. This just so happened to be Sam Lafferty.
With the trade, the Leafs essentially replaced Lafferty with an equivalent player in Noah Gregor and gained cap space as well as a 5th-round pick. If the Leafs were to place Lafferty on waivers, he would have been gone for free.