Why would the leafs trade kerfoot for a worse player and throw in a better pick?

Maybe because Crouse isn't a worse player. He is the the type of player that Toronto needs to succeed in the play offs, as opposed to someone who does little in the playoffs except takes costly penalties and makes untimely turnovers. Crouse is 2 years younger, much bigger the Kerfoot, and in this scenario has 2 years on his contract at almost half the cap hit, which is huge to a team who is not cap compliant with Kerfoot on it. The reality is Arizona could likely get better value for Crouse then what they are getting here. Kerfoot's value around the league is not overly high, especially since all teams know Toronto needs to be cap compliant and Kerfoot is one of the very few routes Toronto is willing to go to reduce cap.

Unlikely Crouse signs a 2 million deal, his asking $ is 4 million right now. leaf's cant do it.