Hockey Latest has no direct affiliation to the NHL or NHLPA
Nick Foligno reveals why his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately failed
Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nick Foligno appeared on a podcast recently where he discussed his time with the Leafs, revealing the injury that hurt him there.
Foligno was moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs in April of 2021 during the Covid-shortened season. It was a rather complicated move that included a lot of moving parts, as well as a third team. In total, the Leafs acquired Foligno as well as Stefan Noesen from the San Jose Sharks. Both Columbus and the Sharks retained 25% of his salary, making him half-cost against the cap for the Leafs. In return, the Blue Jackets received Toronto's 2021 1st round pick and 2022 4th round pick while the Sharks got Toronto's 2021 4th rounder for Noesen and the salary retention.
At the time, the trade looked good for the Leafs as they got a reliable depth forward who can score as well as be a locker room leader for basically a 1st round pick and a couple of late picks that likely never would have amounted to anything anyways. However, Foligno soon became injured after the deal was completed and he would go on to play just 11 total games for the Leafs, including 7 regular season games. Considering he has played in more than 1100 regular-season contests, that is quite unusual.
Luckily, the player the Blue Jackets selected with that 1st round pick in 2021 does not appear to be a big difference maker. That would be Corson Cuelemans, a 6' 2" right handed defenseman. Cuelemans just had his rookie season in the AHL last year and put up 12 points in 47 games. At this point, he figures to be a bottom pair guy at the NHL level at best.
Still though, Foligno was very frustrated with his inability to live up to expectations in Toronto. He revealed on the Dropping the Gloves podcast that he thought he could help get the team past the 1st round of the playoffs, but that never happened as the team lost to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games that year.
"I felt like I could really help on the ice and off the ice to get them over the hump. That's why I picked [Toronto], that's why I felt like I wanted to go there-to put my stamp on that team. That's probably the thing that bothered me the most. I think I was just so frustrated because I knew I was really hurt, and I knew how much they invested in me, and I was trying to push through it. I was a shell of myself."
Now Foligno has moved on to the next chapter of his career, mentoring a young Blackhawks team. Perhaps he will teach Connor Bedard how to become an effective leader, which will be invaluable to the team as Bedard figures to be the next captain.
Source: BladeofSteel
Nick Foligno opens up about the injury that ended his time in Toronto
Nick Foligno opens up about the injury that ended his time in Toronto
| POLL | ||
AOUT 13 | 101 ANSWERS Nick Foligno reveals why his trade to the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately failed How many points do you think Nick Foligno will score with the Chicago Blackhawks next season? | ||
| <25 | 30 | 29.7 % |
| 25-30 | 38 | 37.6 % |
| 31-40 | 27 | 26.7 % |
| 41+ | 6 | 5.9 % |
| List of polls | ||