Alex Kerfoot was slotted into the Toronto Maple Leafs’ top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in an effort by head coach Sheldon Keefe to get the offense going.
NEW YORK — Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe made an adjustment to his top line ahead of his team’s game against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
He moved Alex Kerfoot to the top line alongside stars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, while moving Michael Bunting down to skate with Ryan O’Reilly and Sam Lafferty.
"I just think Kerf has been playing better than Bunts. That is really it. Kerf was outstanding," Keefe said of the move. "It was maybe his best game of the season the other night (against the Calgary Flames). We were trying to change that up a little bit, change that group a little bit there, and get a little bit more from them."
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Kerfoot had been the subject of much trade speculation over the course of the last year, ever since the Maple Leafs signed Calle Jarnkrok to a four-year, $8.4 million contract in the summer. With many believing someone would have to be moved in order for the club to be salary-cap compliant after the signing, injuries during training camp to some players and a cervical spine issue to defensive Jake Muzzin ensured enough room.
Over the last month, the Maple Leafs loaded up depth players to add more toughness and defense to their lineup. The additions of forwards Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Sam Lafferty and defensemen Jake McCable, Luke Schenn and Erik Gustafsson required the Leafs to make some cap room. They traded defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals for Gustafsson and the Boston Bruins' 2023 first-round draft pick, which cleared $600,000 in cap room. They also shipped forward Pierre Engvall to the New York Islanders for a 2023 third-round pick, clearing an additional $2.25 million.
Kerfoot is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and carries a cap hit of $3.5 million, but the Leafs have come to rely on the forward's versatility. So much that Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on the '32 Thoughts' podcast that in Toronto's deal to acquire O'Reilly and Acciari, they could have made the trade without using the Minnesota Wild as a third-party team to retain 25 percent of O'Reilly's $7.5 million contract in order to keep Kerfoot.
"Toronto could’ve done that deal with St. Louis themselves, but they asked Minnesota to retain an extra 25 percent on O’Reilly and pay the pick to keep Kerfoot." Friedman said.
Minnesota received Toronto's fourth-round draft pick in 2024 for retaining $1.875 million of O'Reilly's cap hit.
The 28-year-old Kerfoot has seven goals and 19 assists in 63 games this season. He has bounced around every position in the lineup this season as Keefe mixes and matches his lines around.
Now that the trade deadline has passed, that should alleviate some of the pressures he was feeling to do more offensively. But he'll be counted on to help be a contributor to help push Toronto over the playoffs hump.
“Just because there’s maybe no pressure of being traded doesn’t mean there’s no pressure,” Kerfoot said Friday in Vancouver. “The pressure ramps up at this time. The whole goal is going out there and performing. Right now, you need to perform more than at any point in the season.
“For me personally, I’ve been traded once in my career and you’re never fully comfortable. You know that it’s a business, and you know that at any time you can get traded. You just have to tune that out as much as possible. If you were listening to every rumor that was floating around, then it would be a stressful life.”
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Bunting has one goal and two assists in his last seven games. The numbers are more of a reflection of Auston Matthews and trying to get him going offensive. Matthews broke out for a two-goal performance in a 5-1 win against the Seattle Kraken, but was limited to just two assists over his next three games.