Toronto Maple Leafs: Losing Nicolas Aube-Kubel Doesn’t Sting Much

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Nicolas Aube-Kubel, seeing a bit-player on a Cup Winning team with more to give.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, however, do not just give away spots in the lineup, even to free-agents they recruit and sign.  In fact, their entire strategy for team building is to acquire as many cheap players with upside as they can, pit them against each other, and hope the competition provides a diamond in the rough.

Last year this strategy paid off big-time when the Leafs unearthed Michael Bunting, David Kampf and Ondrej Kase.  Previously they hit on Ilya Mikheyev.

Nick Ritchie didn’t work out.  Jimy Vesey was a bit better, and got claimed on waivers.  Michael Amadio, same thing.   Adam Brooks.  Alex Barabanov. The list goes on.

The Leafs bring in more players than they need, and those players compete for jobs, and because of league rules preventing teams from hoarding NHL players in the minors, the Leafs have lost more players on waivers than any other team in the last three or four seasons.

Toronto Maple Leafs Didn’t Want to Lose Depth, But It Can’t Be Helped

Nicolas Aube-Kubel still has the same potential the Leafs saw in him this summer.  The Capitals see it as well.  But the team has to dress the best lineup every night, and Aube-Kubel did not get off to a good start with the Leafs.

In six games with the Leafs, his 5v5 possession, shots, and scoring chance numbers were all horrible, with teams dominating the Leafs when he was on the ice.

When the Leafs having players like Adam Gaudette, Joey Anderson, Kyle Clifford and Pontus Holmberg available on the Marlies, it’s not that big of a deal to lose a player on waivers.

And with   Zach Aston-Reese , Wayne Simmonds and Denis Malgin, outplaying him in Toronto, the Leafs had no choice but to send him down and risk a claim.

Aube-Kubel was a hitting machine with 20 hits at five-on-five in just 6 games for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but was seldom in a place to receive a hit suggesting he shied away a little in the defensive end.

Likewise, he wasn’t exactly a strong presence when you look at his Corsi percentage, which is a reasonable judge of puck possession – a lowly 34.74% which means the Leafs were working hard on puck retrieval, explaining the hitting. (statistics from Natural Stat Trick).  A player who hits is helpful, but a player who never has the puck, and so has inflated hitting stats, is not.

Realistically, the statistics aren’t great but keep in mind the sample size is tiny.  In the NHL, you just don’t get very long to establish yourself with a competitive team.  The Leafs are a cup contender, and have no room for passengers.

As much as there may have been more upside in exposing Wayne Simmonds, Aube-Kubel was the worst player so far this year, and for the Leafs, the future is now.

Expect the Leafs to try and re-claim him if he doesn’t stick in Washington. And, on the bright side, Washington claiming him allowed the Leafs to sign a goalie to replace the injured Ilya Samsonov, something they wouldn’t have been able to do while at the 50 contract limit.

The Toronto Maple Leafs obviously wish they could have kept Aube-Kubel, but it’s not like his loss is going to be a major factor in the team’s success or failure this year.