Leafs Acquire Aatu Räty from Canucks for Quillan, Buhr
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a trade ahead of their Thursday night game against the Buffalo Sabres, acquiring Aatu Raty from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Brandon Buhr and Jacob Quillan.
| To Toronto | To Vancouver |
|---|---|
| F Aatu Raty | F Brandon Buhr F Jacob Quillan |
What To Expect From Raty
Raty, 23, is the biggest name in this deal, though his stock has progressively fallen with each year. In the early buildup towards the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Raty was considered by many scouts to be the likely first overall pick, as he’d already had a fantastic junior career in Finland and was getting early tastes of Liiga play. By the time we got to the closing weeks of his draft year, however, he was considered a mid-to-late first rounder, with most reputable scouting agencies and draft insiders having him in the teens to twenties. By draft weekend, he’d slipped to the New York Islanders on the back half of the second round.
Almost immediately, Raty started to build some of his pedigree back up, producing at a point-per-game clip in Liiga in his Draft+1 season and producing 10 points in 7 games at the World Juniors, eventually joining the Bridgeport Islanders (now Hamilton Hammers) at the end of the year. This led him to come to North America full time in 2022, getting a short taste of the NHL before a respectable rookie season in the AHL.
In January 2023, Raty was sent to the Vancouver Canucks as a key component in the Islanders’ aquisition fo Bo Horvat – a move seen as trading future for present and one that would replenish the Canucks’ asset pool. Since making the jump to a new organization, though, that upward trajectory has stalled. Raty made strides in the AHL, playing over a season and a half with Abbotsford and ultimately becoming a point-per-game player. 2024/25 saw him get two separate looks in the NHL – one 20-game stretch early in the year, and one 12-game opportunity in the final weeks. Following the season, he rejoined Abbotsford for their Calder Cup championship run, though he suffered a season-ending leg injury in the second round.
Raty played in the NHL full-time last season, appearing in 66 games. What’s shocking is that a player who has been hyped over the years for his high-end shot and playmaking ability hasn’t seen either translate on the biggest stage. Last year, he produced just four goals and ten assists across his season.
With much of what would resemble creative upside not translating in the NHL over the last two years, the thought at the moment would be that Raty’s toolset at the highest level is near the opoposite of what anyone would’ve projected for him in his teens. Somehow, he’s evolved into the “big-ish, physicalish faceoff guy”, sitting at 6’2, 204 and putting up an incredible 59.2% win rate across his 118-game career and laying 165 hits last season. Typically, though, those two markers are attached to a defensive specialist of some sort, and he’s not proven himself to be a shutdown asset. The Canucks did use him to an extent on their penalty kill, though one imagines that most of that was for his faceoff prowess (not to mention, they had the 32nd-ranked PK last year).
The goal here would be to either lean all the way into developing him into a super-utilitarian fourth liner, or try to help him re-find his offensive tools before he starts to escape the prime age window.
Logistical Benefits Of Trade Vs. Waivers
This move may confuse some at first glance given that Raty cleared waivers just four hours ago. Why would the Maple Leafs trade for a guy they could’ve had for free this afternoon?
Well, there’s two answers for that. The first is that it gives them flexibility on where Raty plays for them. Having already cleared waivers, he can now start out with the Toronto Marlies without any hassle. Going back to the last block, if the goal is to help him find what he was once known for again, putting him into a position to succeed as an offensive player in the AHL would be an easy first step. If he’s still capable of producing at a point-per-game rate in the AHL like he did in 2024/25, then he’ll easily be able to fit in the top six.
The second is that it helps the Leafs make future moves. While there is no cap benefit to speak of with this move – Raty would cost as much in the NHL as Quillan – including Buhr gets Toronto off of the 50 contract ceiling.
As well, Quillan is a Group-6 UFA this season, while Raty, should be prove worth retaining, is a restricted free agent.
Heading The Other Way
Toronto moves on from Jacob Quillan and Brandon Buhr.
Buhr, 24, was signed by the team as a college free agent just seven months ago, in one of Brad Treliving’s last roster moves. Signed out of Union College, Buhr was unable to crack the late-season or playoff Marlies lineups, making his debut this year and producing two points in five games. From Burnaby, he’ll probably be right at home playing in Abbotsford.
Qullian is the more substantial loss of the two. Also 24 years old, he’s been in the Leafs organization since the end of the 2024 season, also signed out of the NCAA pipeline from Quinnipiac. Since then, he’s proven to be a very useful AHLer, getting some spot duty in his first season, putting up 37 points in 67 games in his proper rookie year, and producing at just under a point per game clip last year. He also was able to work himself into a 23-game look with the Maple Leafs, being the go-to “tweener” call up as the teams injury bug swelled up and putting up three points in those games. Quillan missed five games during the Marlies’ Calder Cup run due to injuries, but ultimately appeared in 19. Out of the gate this season, Quillan has been without a point.
Early Thoughts
This feels like a perfectly reasonable “project for project” trade from Toronto’s perspective. I personally liked Quillan as a tweener, first-call-up type player, but it was hard to project serious upside for him at the highest level. Raty is running out of track in that sense as well, but has a few tools that will allow for him to have a niche role should he decide to lean into it.
Ultimately, I think the best course of action for the Leafs would be to let him be a big dog again for a bit with the Marlies, and revisit his NHL role later in the year if needed. I might have a bit more urgency to rush him up if the team hadn’t signed an entire bottom six in four hours back in July, but for now, there’s no need to pressure him upward until he’s absolutely ready. I doubt they’ll ever re-find the player he was once hyped up to be, but looking at this trade as a contract shedding, a project swap, and Toronto getting slightly more potential upside out of their return, I think this makes a good deal of sense to try out.
