Grading Every Kyle Dubas Trade as the Toronto Maple Leafs G.M

Kyle Dubas has been very active as the Toronto Maple Leafs GM since being appointed the position.

On May 11, 2018, Dubas was promoted to General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, becoming one of the youngest people in history to do so.

Becoming the successor to Lou Lamoriello is always tough, no matter who’s put in that position. However, in less than two years Dubas has put his stamp on the team quickly.

Within that time-frame, Dubas has already made 24 trades as GM, so let’s breakdown every one in chronological order to see how he’s done.

#1. Toronto Trades Nolan Vesey to Edmonton Oilers for 2020 Conditional 7th round pick (June 8, 2018)

Thoughts: Nolan Vesey was drafted based off potential from his last name. His dad was a former NHLer and his brother currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres, so there were thoughts that he would turn into something. However, it doesn’t look that way so props to Dubas for getting an asset for someone who probably will never play in the NHL.

Grade: C

#2. Toronto trades Matt Martin to New York Islanders for Eamon McAdam (July 3, 2018)

Thoughts: With two years left at $2.5 million per year, this trade was necessary to clear cap space. A fourth line player can’t make that much money, so although he was a great person in the room and influential on Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Dubas made a good trade to clear his contract, despite not getting much in return.

Grade: B

#3. Toronto trades Connor Carrick to Dallas Stars for 2019 7th round pick (October 1, 2018)

Thoughts: Carrick didn’t seem to fit the Toronto Maple Leafs top-six defenseman heading into the 2018-19 season, so with $1.3 million owed to him, the team decided to ship him out for a 7th round pick.

Typically I’d give a decent grade for that alone, but that 7th round pick turned into Kalle Loponen, who as Alex Hobson points out here, has the potential to play in the NHL one day.

Grade: A

#4. Toronto trades Andrew Nielsen to Calgary Flames for Morgan Klimchuk (November 27, 2018)

Thoughts: Talk about a fall from grace for Andrew Nielsen.

He went from being one of best Toronto Marlies defenseman with NHL potential, to being a regular healthy scratch. Klimchuk on the other hand was struggling in the Flames system and a change of scenery was good for him.

The former 1st round pick only stayed a few weeks in Toronto before being traded again, so unfortunately the Leafs didn’t get much in return for Nielsen at the end of the day.

Grade: C –

#5. Toronto trades Josh Leivo to Vancouver Canucks for Michael Carcone (December 3, 2018)

Thoughts: Drafted 86th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Josh Leivo couldn’t find his fit in Toronto.

Mike Babcock barely gave him a chance, so Dubas was finally able to give Leivo his wish and trade him to a new city. In Vancouver, Leivo has been a very respectable player making the best of his time with the Canucks.

Michael Carcone ended up being a good fit with the Toronto Marlies for the 2018-19 season, before being traded in Cody Ceci deal that we’ll talk about later.

Grade: D –

#6. Toronto trades Adam Cracknell to Anaheim Ducks for Steven Oleksy (December 11, 2018)

Thoughts: Adam Cracknell’s coffee was still warm when he left Toronto. He only suited up for 13 games before being traded for Oleksy. Having previously played in Toronto’s system, Oleksy was a welcome face for management, so they knew what they were getting with him. Oleksy was a strong influence that year with the Marlies, but overall this trade was pretty vanilla.

Grade: C

#7. Toronto trades 2020 5th round pick to Florida for Michael Hutchinson (December 29, 2018)

Thoughts: Say what you want about Michael Hutchinson’s time in Toronto, but overall this was a great trade.

Hutchinson was essentially the back-up goalie so only giving up a 5th round pick is good value. Hutchinson was put in a very tough situation and Mike Babcock didn’t help much, so although he needed to be replaced a year later, this was a solid move at the time.

Grade: A –

#8. Toronto trades Morgan Klimchuk to Ottawa Senators for Gabriel Gagne (January 11, 2019)

Thoughts:  If you look back to trade #4, Andrew Neilsen was essentially traded for Gabriel Gagne because Klimchuk was in Toronto’s system for only 13 games.

To make things worse, Gagne only played 22 career games with the Marlies, and Klimchuk is currently having a solid year with the Belleville Senators.

Grade:  F

#9. Toronto trades Carl Grundstrom, Sean Durzi and 2019 1st round pick to Los Angeles Kings for Jake Muzzin (January 28, 2019)

Thoughts: Finally, a trade worth talking about!

This deal may have felt rich at the time, but it was worth it to land Jake Muzzin. After signing a four-year extension a few weeks ago, Muzzin has turned into a top-pairing defenseman and is one of the bright spots on the back-end.

There was a lot of potential with Sean Durzi, but Muzzin is clearly the best player in this trade, so Dubas deserves a lot of credit for this.

Grade: A+

#10. Toronto trades future considerations to Nashville for Nick Baptiste (February 24, 2019)

Thoughts: Nick Baptiste was a fine player when he arrived for the Toronto Marlies, so giving up nothing for him is a good trade. With nothing going the other way yet, there isn’t too much else to say. Onto the next trade!

Grade: C

#11. Toronto trades Par Lindholm to Winnipeg Jets for Nic Petan (February 25, 2019)

Thoughts: Par Lindholm has shown that he can be a reliable forth line centre in the NHL, whereas Nic Petan has been either healthy scratched or playing with the Marlies.

Lindholm’s $850K contract, fourth line and penalty-kill minutes would be useful with the Leafs right now, so unfortunately this trade hasn’t worked out.

Grade: F

#12. Toronto trades Fedor Gordeev to Minnesota Wild for 2020 7th round pick (May 30, 2019)

Thoughts: Toronto did not want to sign Gordeev to an entry level contract, so they decided to trade him away to Minnesota for essentially nothing.

At 6’7, 225 pounds, I thought that having him in your system to experiment with and develop would be worth it, but the Leafs didn’t see it that way. Hopefully that 7th round pick turns into someone like Andreas Johnsson.

Grade: D+

#13. Toronto trades Patrick Marleau, conditional 1st round pick and 2020 7th round pick to Carolina Hurricanes for 2020 6th round pick (June 22, 2019)

Thoughts: Everyone knew the third year of the Patrick Marleau contract would bite them.

With a $6.25 million cap-hit, it cost Dubas a 1st round pick in order to ship him away, and they didn’t receive much in return. The trade is good because they unloaded the contract, but terrible because they had to sacrifice a 1st round pick.

Grade: F, but that’s on Lou Lamoriello.

#14. Toronto trades Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen and 2020 3rd round pick to Colorado Avalanche for Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot and 2020 6th round pick (July 1, 2019)

Thoughts: It’s very possible that by July 1, 2020 Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot will no longer play for Toronto so this trade has turned out terribly.

Barrie will most likely walk as a UFA, and in order to save cap-space, Kerfoot could be gone soon. At first glance, it felt that Barrie would be a huge help on the blue-line, but unfortunately it hasn’t turned out that way.

Grade: F

#15. Toronto trades Nikita Zaitsev, Connor Brown and Michael Carcone to Ottawa Senators for Cody Ceci, Ben Harpur, Aaron Luchuk and 2020 3rd round pick (July 1, 2019)

Thoughts: Although there were a lot of moving parts in this trade, the most important player to discuss is Nikita Zaitsev.

Under contract making $4.5 million until 2023-24, Zaitsev’s contract was a necessary move and they didn’t give up too much to do so. Cody Ceci hasn’t been amazing during his time in Toronto, but at least he’s a free agent after this season, so overall this was a good trade.

Grade: B

#16. Toronto trades Garret Sparks to Vegas Golden Knights for David Clarkson and 2020 4th round pick (July 23, 2019)

Thoughts: By helping the Golden Knights out, the Leafs took on David Clarkson’s contract for the 2019-20 season in return for a 2020 4th round pick. After a dismal 2018-19 season, Toronto Maple Leafs fans were looking to drive Garret Sparks to the airport, so securing a middle draft pick for Sparks was good work by Dubas.

Grade: B

#17. Toronto trades Andreas Borgman to St. Louis Blues for Jordan Schmaltz (July 25, 2019)

Thoughts: After playing 48 games in 2017-2018 with Toronto, it felt that Borgman could be a staple on the Leafs defense for years.

Dubas didn’t feel the same way and took a chance on the former 1st round draft pick Jordan Schmaltz. The experiment with Schmaltz didn’t work out and he was traded six months later, so another tough trade for Leafs management.

Grade: D

#18. Toronto trades Trevor Moore, 2020 3rd round pick, 2021 conditional 3rd round pick to Los Angeles Kings for Kyle Clifford and Jack Campbell (February 5, 2020)

Thoughts: After a terrible start to Michael Hutchinson’s season it was clear the Leafs needed a back-up goaltender. In addition, toughness was another aspect the team needed to address and that’s exactly what they did with this trade. Right up there with the Jake Muzzin deal, this was an incredible trade made by the Leafs at a critical time in the season.

Grade: A+

#19. Toronto trades Aaron Luchuk, 2021 conditional 6th round pick to Ottawa Senators for Max Veronneau (February 19, 2020)

Thoughts: Both players went undrafted and were solid players before making their professional debuts. Luchuk has a little bit more potential because he’s two years younger, but this is the definition of a minor league deal.

Grade: C

#20. Toronto trades Mason Marchment to Florida Panthers for Denis Malgin (February 19, 2020)

Thoughts: The analytics numbers are very good on Denis Malgin, despite being pointless in his first eight games  with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Malgin is younger than Marchment and is a better player, but it felt like there was more potential with Marchment.

The 6’4, 220 pound winger showed huge improvements in his skating over the years and was monumental in the Marlies Calder Cup win. Personally I think keeping him in the system would have been better long-term, but we’ll just have to wait and see how this turns out.

Grade: C+