Dubas made the right decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs needed blue line help as free agency opened, and they were continually linked to Alex Pietrangelo for the last year.
Instead of courting Pietrangelo Kyle Dubas made the right decision by pursuing other options, namely T.J Brodie.
To address the Leafs weakness on the blue line, Dubas went out and signed T.J. Brodie and then added Zach Bogosian as a depth option. While these guys aren’t the same caliber as Pietrangelo, they are solid additions to the blue line nonetheless.
Toronto Maple Leafs and T.J Brodie
If the Leafs did end up signing Pietrangelo, while it would have been a huge boost to the Leafs defensive corps, it would have caused a lot of salary cap and financial problems to the team down the road.
While it’s unknown what Pietrangelo will demand and get on the open market, he’s likely looking for a seven year term with an average annual value between $6.5-8 million. If the Leafs were to give him a deal like that, it would severely limit their spending money in the future.
The Leafs core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander combine to make over $40 million and adding Pietrangelo to that equation would push it to five guys making over $47 million, more than half the salary cap.
Had the Leafs spent big on Pietrangelo, it would have prevented them from re-signing Morgan Rielly and Freddie Andersen (if they even want to), as well as made it nearly impossible to add any depth to the roster.
Also, if the Leafs were to wait until Pietrangelo made a decision, they wouldn’t have gotten Brodie. This could have left them with nothing, so it was probably smart to take the sure thing.
In the final analysis T.J Brodie + the flexibility afforded the team by going after the cheaper player is probably better than having Pietrangelo and no flexibility.
Dubas played the right cards here and didn’t go after the big fish in the pond. Instead, he got two blue liners that fit the team’s need and believe it or not, it made the team better, both now and in the future on the ice and financially.
T.J Brodie may not be Alex Pietragelo, but he still gives the Leafs an incredible top three defensemen as they enter the 2021 NHL season, whenever that may be.