Blackhawks have mined a Deadline Day diamond in the rough in Sam Lafferty

Credit: © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

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With fewer than four weeks remaining until the NHL’s March 3 trade deadline, we’ve got you covered at Daily Faceoff with one trade-focused story each day leading up to Deadline Day.

Today we’re going to hone in on Chicago Blackhawks forward Sam Lafferty, who has climbed to No. 12 on our latest Trade Targets board.

2023 Trade Deadline Countdown: 27 days

SAM LAFFERTY
Center, Chicago Blackhawks
Shoots: Right
Age: 27
Height: 6’1″ | 195 lbs.
Cap Hit: $1.15 million
Term: 1 more season
Trade Clauses: No restrictions
Stats: 42 GP, 8 goals, 9 assists, 17 points, 14:41 avg TOI
Career: 4th season (Pittsburgh, Chicago), 182 GP, 19 goals, 49 points, 12:02 avg TOI

Archetype and Ideal Role

Bottom-six forward, penalty kill contributor.

Lafferty brings speed, tenacity and the ability to slide onto either of a team’s penalty killing units. He can hound pucks, create havoc on the penalty kill and finish his checks. Ideally, on a contending team, Lafferty can add valuable depth to their lineup and be a useful player in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Scouting Report

Lafferty has elite NHL-level speed. With the puck on the rush, he can push defenders back and create space for himself or teammates to enter the zone and create better looks on offense. He isn’t necessarily a natural distributor, so he is better without the puck in transition, but he can use his speed to force weak-side defenders off the blueline and then create lanes underneath or get behind defenders for breakaways. He also effectively harnesses his speed to recover quickly and attack the net, forcing defenders to acknowledge him.

Outside of his pure speed, Lafferty’s best attribute is his ability to get in on pucks quickly on the forecheck. That isn’t always a product of speed – it’s also tenacity, will and motor. He has a strong understanding of how forechecking evolves and where he needs to go next to pressure the puck and force turnovers. Short of forcing a turnover, he makes life difficult on defenders by finishing his checks.

Lafferty is second only to Vegas’ Reilly Smith in shorthanded goals scored this season with three. His speed makes him a threat on the penalty kill. His best role on the ‘kill is as the tip of the spear in the neutral zone formation, he has a knack for attacking the drop pass and then recovering back quickly to pressure the puck as it enters his defensive zone. In the zone, Lafferty can punch out to pressure the puck, but can lack attention to detail at times.

This season, Lafferty has taken 321 draws and won 52.6 percent, which is a strong number relative to the rest of the league. He has also played a significant chunk of his career on the wing, so he provides natural forward flexibility. Every forward can play wing, but not every wing can play center.

Buyer Beware

One of Lafferty’s biggest drawbacks is a lack of natural awareness. He fails to process danger especially well through the neutral and defensive zones and can get caught puck watching or taking poor angles on puck carriers as they attack the middle of the ice. That leads to higher quality chances against when he can’t use his wheels to recover in time.

This season, Lafferty has nine penalties taken against 10 drawn. A player with his speed should have a much better ratio of penalties drawn, but he isn’t always in the right place at the right time, and doesn’t possess the puck long enough to make defenders account for him as he transitions through the neutral zone.

Lafferty is a classic chip and chase player – and chipping it in is far less effective than carrying it in to force the defense to handle a player with his speed.

While Lafferty does finish hits hard, he also is not as consistent as maybe desired competitively. There are periods and games where he floats. And for a player who spends a significant chunk of his ice time on the penalty kill, he doesn’t block nearly enough shots. He has just 18 blocked shots this season.

One other item to beware: Lafferty is in the midst of a career year and is shooting 13.1 percent. He has raw physical ability, especially skating, but even at age 27 still hasn’t put it all together yet. He could be far more effective with his toolkit.

Potential Fits

Tampa Bay Lightning: The Bolts looked to Chicago last year for depth with inexpensive term in Brandon Hagel. That’s worked out pretty well. Lafferty doesn’t have the talent or impact of Hagel, but with a fourth line that many see as lacking speed, he could fit quite well into the bottom of their lineup.
Edmonton Oilers: One of Edmonton’s biggest issues this season has been their penalty kill. There’s no doubt that Lafferty would help in that regard. He also isn’t afraid to bring a physical edge that would also be appreciated.
Toronto Maple Leafs: We know the GM Kyle Dubas doesn’t like to spend picks on rentals. But with a year remaining for Lafferty, he could add to the Leafs’ lineup and form a solid duo with Alex Kerfoot on Toronto’s second penalty killing unit.
Boston Bruins: Tomas Nosek should be back in a few weeks, but as insurance, the Bruins have the luxury of adding Lafferty for this year given their cap flexibility. Their cap situation is tight next year with bonus overages due, but he could give them certainty heading into next year with a lot of their forward group expiring.

Comparable Trade Returns

It was only 13 months ago that the Blackhawks acquired Lafferty from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Alex Nylander, when the Hawks were trying to dump his expensive one-way contract. The trade has worked out beautifully for GM Kyle Davidson.

Now, with the term remaining on his contract, Davidson has the potential to extract as much as a second-round pick in return for Lafferty. How did we arrive at that? Take a look at three 2022 Deadline Day trades below, all of which were for players on expiring contracts.

March 21, 2022
To Washington: Johan Larsson
To Arizona: 2023 3rd Round Pick

March 21, 2022
To Winnipeg: Mason Appleton
To Seattle: 2023 4th Round Pick

March 21, 2022
To N.Y. Rangers: Tyler Motte
To Vancouver: 2023 4th Round Pick

With his elite speed, Lafferty arguably brings more utility than all three of those players as well. Many teams will see the term remaining on Lafferty’s deal as a plus, some will view it as inconsequential since it can be buried in the minors without penalty, and others will view it as a bridge too far when compared with other players available this deadline including Nick Bonino, Motte and Derick Brassard.

Summary

Lafferty brings elements that a savvy, complete and veteran team could use on their fourth line. He isn’t perfect, lacking sense and his motor wanes during stretches, but the second year always seems to entice certain teams giving them cost certainty heading into the offseason. His contract coupled with his raw physical ability might make a team eager to try to pull a complete game out of him while harnessing what he already does well.