Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking Kyle Dubas Top 5 Moves as Leafs GM

Having been general manager of one of the most storied franchises in the NHL, Kyle Dubas has done a ton in his limited time with Toronto.

Hired in 2014 by President Brendan Shanahan to be one of two assistant general managers to then-Leafs GM Dave Nonis, people criticized Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for the unusual move because, at the time, Dubas was 29 years old and was entering the 2014-15 season as one of the youngest members of an NHL front office.

It is quite remarkable how much fantastic work Dubas has done in five years. Ever since his hiring, Dubas has made 37 trades, fired a coach, hired a coach, won a Calder Cup, and made the biggest splash in free agency of the salary cap era. With all the excellent moves Dubas had made, it is very difficult to only choose a top five, but we are going to try.

Here we go.

Honourable Mention: Drafting Nick Robertson.

Having traded their first-round pick in a deal for a certain Los Angeles Kings defensemen – who we will touch on later – Dubas was tasked with finding serious talent in the later rounds of the 2019 NHL draft. In what is widely considered one of the steals of the draft, Dubas landed 5”9’ left-winger Nick Robertson 53rd overall.

Born just four days before the draft eligibility cut-off date, Robertson dominated the OHL this past season. Registering 55 goals and 86 points (stats  eliteprospects.com), many suggest that had Robertson not been eligible for the 2019 draft, he would have surely been a lottery pick, maybe even a top 10 pick, in this years’ upcoming draft. Robertson finished the season with more goals than projected lottery pick Jack Quinn and more points than projected top-three pick Quinton Byfield.

PNHLe, a modern analytical prospect gauging tool, is a statistic used to measure all NHL prospects and balance the difference in their respective junior leagues to project their point totals in the NHL. Nick Robertson currently leads all NHL-affiliated prospects with a PNHLe score of 89, ahead of 2019 7th overall pick Dylan Cozens, 16th overall pick Alex Newhook, and 15th overall pick Cole Caufield (stats; nhlrankking.com).

Similarly, at Dobber Prospects, their PNHLe rankings from one to five are as follows: Quinton Byfield, Alexis Lafrenière, Marco Rossi, Cole Perfetti, and Nick Robertson. Robertson ranks above 2020 projected lottery picks Seth Jarvis and Connor Zary and above potential top-five pick Jamie Drysdale.

Ever since the Stanley Cup was handed out, many were quick to point out Tampa Bay’s excellent drafting outside the first round as a big factor in their success. Brayden Point, 3rd round 2014 draft, and Anthony Cirelli, 3rd round 2015 draft, played critical roles in the Lightning’s cup run. Nick Robertson has a legitimate chance of being the Leafs version of those two.

No. 5: Hiring Sheldon Keefe.

In the first 23 games of the 2019-20 season, former head coach Mike Babcock led the Toronto Maple Leafs to an abysmal 9-10-4 start. In a move that many considered inevitable, Dubas promoted Keefe, his long-time running mate, from the Marlies to take over the big club.

Keefe began his head coaching career with the Pembroke Lumber Kings of the CCHL and enjoyed nothing short of success. His .742 winning percentage with the franchise ranks number one in the league’s history. His five straight league championships also rank first in league history. By the time he left the Kings, Keefe had racked up a 265-76-20 record.

When Keefe was hired as head coach of the Marlies by Kyle Dubas, he managed to register a .668 winning percentage in four seasons with the AHL franchise capped off with a Calder Cup victory in 2018. Keefe’s long history of winning with every franchise he has been with is all Dubas needed to know he is the man to take over as Toronto Maple Leafs head coach.

It is hard not to like the job Sheldon Keefe has done in his limited stint with the Leafs. In his 47 games with the team, the Leafs finished with .628 points percentage, 8th in the league, despite Jake Muzzin missing 16 games and Morgan Rielly missing 23 games. Furthermore, Keefe was able to tremendously improve the Leafs’ defensive play. With Mike Babcock, the Leafs were 24th in goals-against/game at 3.43 and 25th in shots-against/game at 33.3. With Keefe, Toronto finished 17th in goals-against/game at 3.04 and 17th in shots-against/game at 31.2.

Safe to say with a little bit more health and Frederik Andersen not having a .897 save percentage and a 3.16 goals-against average at 5v5 from January 1st until the end of the season (stats; naturalstattrick.com), the Leafs would have finished a lot higher in the standings. Impressive for a club who was on a 103-point pace in a full 82 game season under Keefe.

No. 4: The Zach Hyman Trade 

In Kyle Dubas’ first official trade as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs front office, the 29-year-old shipped off forward prospect Greg McKegg in exchange for forward prospect Zach Hyman. Hyman, a graduate of the University of Michigan, was a Hobey Baker finalist after leading his conference in points with 54 (22 goals).

Although drafted by the Florida Panthers, Hyman had no intention of ever signing with the team. He informed Panthers management of his intentions to become an unrestricted free agent that offseason. Up to 20 teams were said to be interested, however, Hyman only had one team in mind – the Toronto Maple Leafs. The hard-nosed left-winger who grew up in the area always dreamed of being able to play for the Leafs. Hyman’s dad had this to say about his son following the news:

“They’re going to get a kid that bleeds blue and white and understands the tradition of the Maple Leafs and who has always dreamed of being a Maple Leaf. He’ll be proud to wear that uniform.”

Coming off ACL surgery in the 2019 offseason, no one expected much from Hyman this season, taking most of the year to continue rehabbing from his injury. Not only did Hyman put up a career year, he finally proved to the hockey world what Babcock kept saying.

During Babcock’s tenure in Toronto, he made some questionable decisions. And while towards the end his relationship with management and the fanbase began to sour, one decision he made that did not receive enough credit in its time was the support he gave to Hyman.

Early on in his career, fans were confused as to why Hyman, someone the average fan had never heard of, kept receiving ice time along with Matthews and Nylander. Babcock continued to preach Hyman was the ultimate glue guy and could transform any line from good to great, but the results were proving otherwise – until this year.

Hyman, who missed 19 games to start the year, still finished fourth on the team in goals with 21 (stats; NHL.com), also tying a career-high. Should he have played a full 82-game season, Hyman would have registered 34 goals and 60 points, absolutely crushing both of his career highs. Safe to say Dubas’ first deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs was a success.

No. 2: The Jake Muzzin Trade 

In the trade that acquired the most important member of the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline, Kyle Dubas made his first blockbuster trade as Leas GM. Acquired on January 28th, 2019, Jake Muzzin has been every bit as advertised in his year and a half with the organization.

Playing on a supremely awful Los Angeles Kings team to start the 2018-19 season, Muzzin was still able to register a plus-10 rating, a significant feat proving his defensive impact night in and night out.

On the ice, the Woodstock, Ontario native was the perfect fit for Toronto. Leading all Leafs defensemen in hits, blocked shots, and takeaways since his arrival, and at 6′ 3″, 217 lbs, Muzzin became the physical presence on the backend Toronto severely lacked.

Furthermore, Muzzin also leads the team in short-handed ice time, playing the most minutes on the penalty kill of any Leafs defensemen. It is quite amazing that even though Muzzin has been the Leafs best defensive defensemen the past season and a half, he is also second in points among all Leafs d-men.

Off the ice, Muzzin provides just the same contributions to the Leafs dressing room as he does with his play. A former Stanley Cup winner and a veteran of almost 600 career regular-season games, with an additional 59 postseason games, Jake Muzzin is the unofficial fourth assistant captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The most significant moment where Muzzin’s leadership really showed is when the Leafs were faced with a home-and-home against the Penguins in mid-February. Toronto was destroyed by Pittsburgh in the first game with Muzzin saying this following the game:

“Everyone’s got to take a look in the mirror. We got to be better. That’s unacceptable. We got to find the urgency, the passion, the love of the game, the love to compete for each other. All that needs to come. I don’t know what it’s not there …”.

Muzzin came out ready to back up his words in game 2. With a goal (the game-winner) and two assists, coupled with a plus-3 rating and four blocked shots, Muzzin showed the rest of the Leafs roster what it takes to win in this league.

It is hard to describe just how important Muzzin has been to this team over the past two seasons. Leafs management recognized this by not letting the defensemen reach the open market this offseason, re-upping Muzz for another four seasons. In such a short time Muzzin has proved to be such an important piece to this Leafs roster and thankfully we have another four years of it.

No. 1: The John Tavares Signing 

In the biggest free agency signing of the salary cap era, the Mississauga, Ontario native, who following the announcement tweeted a picture of him wearing the Blue and White pyjamas, decided to take his talents to his childhood team. Kyle Dubas managed to ink John Tavares to a 7-year, $77 million contract on July 1st, 2018.

Dubas was able to lure the former Islanders captain away from other franchises who were offering significantly more money than the Leafs were able to. The San Jose Sharks, for example, were ready to make Tavares the highest-paid player in the league, offering him $14 million AAV on his long-term deal.

To say Kyle hit a home run on the Tavares signing would be an understatement. In his first season with the Leafs, Tavares was one of the most dominant players in the entire NHL. Scoring 47 goals and 88 points (stats; NHL.com), Tavares registered the 11th best goals above replacement of 19.5 (stats; evolving-hockey.com).

To put Tavares’ 2018-19 in perspective, Nathan MacKinnon, the runner-up for the Hart Trophy this year – and probably should have won the trophy – registered a goals above replacement of 19.8, 0.3 above Tavares’.

Not only did the center himself have a career year, but his partner in crime Mitch Marner also had a career year himself as a direct result of Tavares’ play. Marner finished the season with 26 goals and 94 points, 11th in the NHL (stats; NHL.com), allowing the 23-year-old to cash in on his next contract this past offseason. Furthermore, the trio of Zach Hyman, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner finished that season with the highest expected goals for rating among all NHL forward lines.

On the night of the first game of the 2019-20 season, when the leaders of the team were held until last during the unveiling of the Leafs opening night lineup, Morgan Rielly, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews skated on to the ice, wearing a crested “A” across their jersey. Soon after, Tavares was announced in front of a sold-out Scotiabank Arena as the 25th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the fit could not be more perfect.

Last offseason, when the Leafs were faced with a lot of roster turnover, it was Tavares, before the captaincy, who was the one to welcome all the new faces. Tavares texted Alex Kerfoot immediately following the trade and organized a dinner with him and Tyson Barrie soon after the former Avs landed in Toronto.

It is those little things that make Tavares such a fantastic leader. He plays the game the right way and comes prepared every night for 82 games. Kyle Dubas’ best move as Leafs GM has to be one of the best moves any GM has made over the past several seasons.

Having only been around for two seasons now, Dubas has done a lot. Facing one of the most critical offseasons the Toronto Maple Leafs have had in a long time, it is safe to say the fate of the franchise in the right hands.