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Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas First Move

By Nicholas Lucciantonio

SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 26: Kyle Dubas Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs talks on the phone as President Brendan Shanahan looks on during the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB
SUNRISE, FL - JUNE 26: Kyle Dubas Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs talks on the phone as President Brendan Shanahan looks on during the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Friday that Kyle Dubas would be taking over as the 17th General Manager in the club’s history.

Dubas has been the assistant GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs since 2014, with his responsibilities including player personnel, managing player development and farm system, and overseeing the organization’s top prospects as GM of the AHL leading Toronto Marlies.

As a new GM of the team, many Leaf fans wonder what his first move will be. Let’s take a look at possible first moves of the 32-year-old.

Re-Sign JVR/Bozak

People have been speculating all season whether James Van Riemsdyk will still be a Toronto Maple Leaf for the upcoming season. The 29-year-old notched a total of 54 points this season scoring 36 goals. With the numbers he’s been putting up during his six seasons with the Maple Leafs, he’ll be a hot commodity possibly looking for a 6-7-million-dollar contract.

The years of a cap friendly 4.25-million-dollar contract is most definitely over. With a possible big pay day for the American forward, it seems unlikely that Dubas is able to afford him after having to sign their rookies soon as well.

Tyler Bozak is someone the Leafs could look to keeping as well. With his contract being 4.2 million, he would have to take less for the team to even consider bringing him back – but after one of his best NHL seasons that’s not happening.

Bozak is a great player to have on your team considering where in the lineup the Leafs play him.  The team signed him as a free agent after playing two years of college hockey in Denver. He isn’t taking a pay cut, and the odds of him coming back are extremely long.

Sign a UFA

There are a few possible free agents this summer that could make a big impact on the Leafs. A team like Toronto is in need of help on their back-end. So why not go for the best defenceman on the market?

John Carlson can and will help the Leafs big time if Dubas is able to sign him.  The problem is that he is going to get massively overpaid.  Dubas’ specialty is said to be identifying value in players and overpaying for Carlson is the opposite of that.

It’d be nice to get the big name player, as he can play big minutes, helping out Rielly and Gardiner, playing an average of almost 25 minutes per game. He also, lead all defencemen in scoring this past season with 68 points in a full 82 game season. Carlson is one-point shy of being a point-per-game player in this year’s playoffs, scoring 12 points in 13 playoff games.

Given the Leafs roster and needs, Carlson isn’t a very good fit because he’s terrible defensively and explosive offensively.  The Leafs have that combo covered.

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John Tavares is easily going to be the most sought after free agent this year if the New York Islanders don’t re-sign him. Much like Steven Stamkos last year, Tavares is going to be making a lot of money in his next contract. He’s one of the best players in the NHL,  Toronto native, and only 27 years-old, what’s not to like? Oh yeah, the money. Tavares will most likely be making Kane/Toews money, with their contracts being 10.5 million a piece. Scoring 84 points this season in 82 games, if the Islanders don’t sign him, he’s going to be looked at by every team.

Trade for a defenceman

This one is always on the radar for Leaf fans. With defence that is always needing to be better, trading to upgrade is always an option.

Vancouver’s  Chris Tanev would be a real difference-maker to have on the Leafs blueline. Another Vancouver Canuck and right-hander, Tanev can really help this defense out. The only thing to keep in mind is if good outweigh the bad. Tanev has had a very injury prone career, playing 70 games at most in a season. The Leafs would need to identify whether this was just bad luck or if he has actual chronic problems before making a move.

A healthy Tanev should allow Rielly to excel with his speed-driven game. The two presented solid defence for Team Canada last year at the World Hockey Championships, and there’s little reason to believe they wouldn’t be for the Maple Leafs.

Name a team captain

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without a captain since the team traded Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators in 2016. Many believe that superstar Auston Matthews will be given the ‘C’ to lead this team, much like Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Others say Morgan Rielly, who has shown great leadership for this young team in the regular season and the playoffs. So far, they haven’t shown us that they need a captain right now, but the Leafs have some players that Dubas can choose from if he wanted to name one for the upcoming season.

Next: Kyle Dubas Talent for Finding Hidden Talent

The new Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is going to have a lot of decisions to make with this team. He’s got a lot of options to make this team better and a contender for the Stanley Cup.

stats from NHL.com, hockey-reference.com, and CapFriendly.com

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