Revisiting the Kings & Maple Leafs Trade for Trevor Moore

When the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs completed a trade to send both Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford to the Maple Leafs in Feb. of 2020, it seemed like the Kings were going to come out on the losing end of the trade.

Well, fast forward four years, and fans can debate that the Kings may have come out victorious in this trade. Trevor Moore was the only player going back to Los Angeles, which was fitting because he is from California and grew up a Kings fan.

When the two teams completed this trade, Moore was barely an everyday NHL player for the Maple Leafs. He often played in their bottom six and wasn’t as used as he has been for his new club.

The headliners of the trade were Campbell and Clifford, who were both going to provide the Maple Leafs with a service. Campbell was going to stabilize the backup goalie role, and Clifford would protect his teammates.

Clifford is now playing for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, and Campbell is also in the AHL, but for the Bakersfield Condors. While they both had their moments with the Maple Leafs, it is Moore who has been better overall since the trade happened.

Since coming over to the Kings, Moore has 162 points in 291 games. This includes a career-high in goals with 31 in 2021–22 and a career-high in points this season with 57.

Credit: Gary A. Vasquez USA TODAY Sports

The Kings were criticized for making this deal, as they gave up two roster players for a depth forward and two third-round picks. However, the trade turned out to work in their favour, and now Moore is a key piece to their team’s success.

The Kings used the 2020 third-round draft pick to select Alex Laferriere, who is currently on the NHL team as well.

All in all, this was amazing work by GM Rob Blake, who saw a chance to make his team better in the long run and went ahead with the trade.