Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 3 Worst Dubas Trade Deadline Moves

The NHL Trade Deadline is only a few weeks away so let’s take a look at Kyle Dubas’ worst trades made as the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.

Every manager is going to make a terrible trade once in a while, and the Toronto Maple Leafs brass is no different.

A trade can sometimes look bad in a few days or it has to wait a few years, but either way, it sucks to be on the wrong side of a deal. In a perfect world, you hope that both sides win, but more often than not, there’s a winner and a loser.

Over his tenure with the Leafs, Dubas has done a very good job, however the weakest part of his game is probably his trading ability. I don’t know if it’s because he’s one of the youngest executives but he hasn’t seemed to pull-off the blockbuster trade or has really rinsed a team yet.

Instead, he’s overpaid a few times for players that haven’t worked out or were just OK.

For this exercise, we’re not going to look at every trade Dubas has made as GM, but instead are going to focus on the mid-season ones around the NHL Trade Deadline. So, if you don’t see a particular trade that you think was terrible, it’s probably because it was done in the offseason or early into the season, thus not making it a deadline move.

Let’s take a look and breakdown the three worst deadline moves in the Kyle Dubas era.

Toronto Maple Leafs Worst Move Under Kyle Dubas:

No. 3: David Rittich

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: David Rittich
• Calgary Flames acquire: 2022 3rd Round Pick

During the 2020-21 campaign, the Toronto Maple Leafs were concerned about their goaltending health heading into the post-season stretch. They had Jack Campbell and Freddie Andersen on the roster, but they still didn’t feel comfortable, as both goalies were injured.

Although the Leafs were a powerhouse in the “All-Canadian Division” they didn’t want to take any chances so they shipped a third-round pick away for “Big Save Dave,” otherwise known as David Rittich.

In four appearances with the Leafs that year, Rittich had a .888 SV% and a 2.72 GAA, finishing with 1-1-1 record. He never played any playoff games and had a much worse stat-line than Michael Hutchinson (.919 SV%, 2.42 GAA, 4-2-1 record), who was already their third-string goalie.

That third-round pick turned into Aidan Thompson, who’s a point-per-game player with the University of Denver right now and although he may never make the NHL, was that high of a draft-pick really necessary?

You’re telling me that the Leafs couldn’t have gotten him for, at worst, a fifth-round pick? He’d really only had one good year in the NHL prior to that trade and was a definite back-up goalie, so a third-round pick seemed like a lot, especially when he gave them nothing in return.

If Toronto makes another goalie move at this year’s deadline, hopefully they can learn from this mistake.

No. 1: Denis Malgin

• Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Denis Malgin
• Florida Panthers acquire: Mason Marchment

I’ll still never understand this trade and it’s clearly the worst deal that Dubas has ever made.

Malgin, an undersized winger, was loved by the analytics people, but his stats never translated on the ice. He scored a couple goals and chipped-in with a few assists every now and then, but he wasn’t anything special.

I know that Marchment wasn’t anything special at the time either, but his size and work-ethic was a reason why I would’ve kept him on the roster. As the years went on, Marchment’s skating improved every year and he turned into one of the best prospects on the Marlies.

At 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, Marchment had a different body-type than most of the current Leafs and that would’ve helped the roster. After a four-game stint with the team where he only added an assist, Toronto decided that the Marchment experiment was over and took a chance on a 5-foot-9, 177 pound player instead.

Marchment went on to score 18 goals and 47 points with the Florida Panthers in the 2021-22 season, while Malgin has scored two goals in the NHL since that trade.

If only the Leafs gave him one more year to develop, Marchment could’ve been a diamond in the rough for Toronto and the left-winger they’ve been missing.