Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas Best and Worst Moves As GM

The Toronto Maple Leafs sent shockwaves to the hockey community when they decided to part ways with GM Kyle Dubas. late last week.

Dubas was hired in the 2018 offseason as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs and now ends his tenure with making the playoffs 5/5 times, one division title, four first-round exits, and one second-round exit.

Dubas was by no means a perfect GM, but no GM ever really is. Kyle Dubas made his fair share of terrific moves and some mistakes that left us scratching our heads.

So let’s take a trip down memory lane and discuss some of them.

Here are, in my opinion, Kyle Dubas’ 3 best and 3 worst moves as GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Kyle Dubas Best and Worst Moves As GM

The Best

Drafting Matthew Knies

With only one first-round draft pick since the 2018 draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs have done a pretty solid job putting together a solid prospect pool, even with a lack of high-end picks. The main highlight of these prospects is forward Matthew Knies.

Knies was taken late in the second round of the 2021 NHL draft, 57th overall. He jumped into the NHL late this past regular season and he shined as a 20-year-old rookie. He impressed many with his tenacity and strong effort, and scored 1 goal and 4 points in 7 playoff games. Not bad for a rookie.

Acquiring O’Reilly and Acciari

Kyle Dubas had an extremely busy 2023 trade deadline, highlighted by a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Blues. He gave up a first, second, and third, Mikhail Abramov and Adam Gaudette in return for Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari.

O’Reilly put up 11 points in 13 regular season games, as well as 9 points in 11 playoff games for the Leafs, and Acciari added 2 goals in the playoffs for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and currently leads the entire league in playoff hits.

Even though the Leafs lost in round 2, they may not have even made it that far if not for these guys.

Replacing Campbell with Samsonov

In the 2022 offseason, Dubas let starting goaltender Jack Campbell walk in free agency to the Edmonton Oilers and replaced him with the unproven Ilya Samsonov. Many people questioned this decision, but oh boy, did the risk pay off.

Campbell is now viewed as one of the most overpaid goalies in the entire league, being paid $5 million a year and putting up atrocious numbers (a .888 sv% and 3.41 GAA in 36 games). Whereas Samsonov put up a very solid .919 sv% and 2.33 GAA with the Leafs, while only being paid $1.5 million.

The Worst

Dubas had some great moves but also some choices that had fans wanting him fired, so let’s talk about them.

Nick Foligno trade

At the 2021 deadline, the Leafs traded a first and a fourth for Nick Foligno. I can understand Dubas’ intention here, Foligno was a solid second-line guy who had strong leadership qualities and physicality, but the move did not work out as intended.

Foligno scored 0 goals and only 5 assists in 11 games with the Leafs. This is one Dubas definitely wants back.

Protecting Holl over McCann

In the 2022 expansion draft, the Leafs elected to protect their “core-four” forwards, goalie Jack Campbell, as well as d-men Muzzin, Brodie, Rielly, and Justin Holl. This left Jared McCann unprotected.

The Seattle Kraken elected to take McCann, who put up 40 goals this past season. Dubas had hoped Holl would blossom into a strong top-4 d-man. But with Holl being scratched numerous times in the playoffs, it’s safe to say he hasn’t panned out as Dubas hoped he would.

Imagine if the Leafs had McCann on their team playing with Mitch Marner.

Trading Nazem Kadri

During the 2019 offseason, it was clear Nazem Kadri was the odd man out on his team, being buried in the depth chart by Auston Matthews and John Tavares. So Dubas decided to trade him to the Colorado Avalanche along with Calle Rosen and a third in exchange for Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, and a sixth.

Barrie played just one season with the Leafs before leaving as a free agent, and while Kerfoot had a solid 51-point campaign in 2022, for the most part, he has failed to live up to expectations with the Leafs, and he has likely played his last game with the team.

Kadri, on the other hand, flourished with the Avs. He set a career-high in 2021-22 with 87 points, and became a force in the playoffs, scoring 34 points in 33 playoff games with Colorado. He also won a cup with the Avs in 2022. (stats: nhl.com)

Dubas made the right move in trading Kadri, but he could have gotten lots more value in return.

In conclusion, Dubas is by no means a perfect GM, but the Leafs will miss him regardless. Whoever his replacement ends up being, he will have big shoes to fill.