As the 2023/24 season is rapidly approaching, I thought I would take us back to discuss former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas’s mistakes during his tenure with the Maple Leafs.
First off, to be fair, The ex Toronto Maple Leafs GM did an excellent job overall.
Dubas doesn’t get the credit he deserves for building this team. He was the one who traded for Zach Hyman, and his move to replace Hyman with Bunting for 5x less was brilliant. Dubas was the one who traded Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh and made it possible for the Leafs to draft Auston Matthews.
It wasn’t his fault Jake Muzzin had to retire, or that the Pandemic froze the salary cap, or that his players went 1-12 during elimination games during his tenure. Additionally, Dubas’ team won about 65% of their games over the last four years, were the 3rd best team during that time, and entered the playoffs every year as a favorite to win the Cup and one of the NHL’s deepest teams.
He did, however, make some mistakes, so let’s talk about those.
Where did Kyle Dubas go wrong with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
One mistake made by general manager Kyle Dubas certainly had to have been trading away many draft picks for players who ultimately failed to remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs after losing in the playoffs, which possibly may have crushed the team’s demeanor and most importantly taken Kyle Dubas back a few steps.
Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, Nick Foligno were just some of the most high profile players the Leafs gave out futures for. Under Kyle Dubas, the Leafs haven’t used their own draft pick to select a player since Rasmus Sandin (who they also traded) in 2018.
One one hand, trading away all those first-rounders was a huge mistake for the former GM and the Leafs in general, because of the missed opportunities it could have built for the future of today.
On the other, even though it didn’t work out, trading first round picks when you’re a Cup Contender is a common practice and the team had to at least try to take it’s shot.
Another criticism is that Dubas was perhaps too close to his players. Even though, Kyle Dubas maintained a steady and healthy relationship with the players, it may have affected his judgement as to what players were on the market to move accordingly to build a steady team, even though, he said in a statement post-Maple Leafs era that his hands were tied at certain times.
Ultimately, Dubas worst move is obvious: Trading Nazem Kadri for Alex Kerfoot. Kadri went on to win a Stanley Cup and become an even bigger star once he left Toronto. Kerfoot was a useful player, but no where close to as good as Kadri was.
This trade may have cost the Toronto Maple Leafs a Stanley Cup and is easily the worst move they have made in years.