mandate of Kyles Dubastoronto maple leavescame to asurprising endingfriday with the clubdivided roadsThe contract with the General Manager will expire after June 30.
Dubas joined the Maple Leafs as a 28-year-old executive in 2014 and became general manager after the 2017-18 season, replacing Lou Lamorillo and making his team debut.
The Leafs enjoyed unprecedented regular-season success in the Dubas era, but the team failed to translate that into the playoffs, winning just one series in five seasons.
Doubts hereditary una listaauston matthews,manna do mickey, miGuillermo NylandAll rookie contracts, basically a gold mine for any GM, and the ability to mold the roster in his image.
He's certainly not shy about making big acquisitions, be it trades or free agent signings. Here are Dubas' five best and five worst plays since his tenure as GM in Toronto:
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Kyle Dubas's 5 worst plays as Leafs GM
1. Maple Leafs sells Kadri for a low price
There is a good example of the Maple Leafs being overcompensated afternazem kadriSecond consecutive playoff suspensionboston brown bonesWhen they decided to leave the central veteran after the 2018-19 season. That makes a bit of sense.
However, getting a valuable player for a poor performer on an average contract ($4.5 million cap) is a huge mistake. The Leafs gave up one of their biggest assets (three good centers) by trading Kadri,pink streetand a 2020 third-round pickColoradoin exchange oftyson barry, Alex Kerfoot and a 2020 sixth-round pick.
Barry proved to be a major asset to the Leafs, making very little impact at a mobile quarterback, scoring just 39 points in 70 pointless playoff games. To make matters worse, he's a pending free agent, so he's only in Toronto for a year before signing a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.edmonton lubesnext low season.KerfootAs it turned out, he was a functional player at best.
Kadri had three productive seasons at Colorado State and was a key part of their 2021-22 Stanley Cup-winning team.
2. The leaves sway in Foligno
To add grit and veteran leadership to the 2020-21 playoffs, Dubas made the deadline decision to acquire forward Nick Foligno.taylor hall, which they can buy at a similar price. Maple Leafs give up multiple picks in three-team trade to get Folignoblue jacket colonmisan jose sharks, including a first-round pick in 2021.
The deal barely paid off as Foligno struggled with injuries during his Toronto tenure, scoring zero goals in seven regular-season games and then assisting in only one of four postseason games. He focused on injuries in the playoffs, but after giving the Maple Leafs some playoff trouble a year ago as a member of the Blue Jackets, he seemed like an empty shell, an absolute threat to Toronto. overall taste.
3. Tavares aims to speed up reconstruction
Let's start with a caveat:joao tavaresHe has been a very effective offensive player for the Maple Leafs, averaging five seasons in points and a model citizen in the locker room. His presence on this list, however, owes more to the ripple effect this seven-year, $77 million signing had in the myriad of problems he created in terms of roster construction and salary cap administration.
For one, it changed what seemed to be a constant casting process, laid the groundwork for future negotiations with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, and created the four-core issue that has been the source of their team restrictions. The salary cap is unlikely to stay the same during a pandemic, but the $11 million a year cap hampers the Leafs' ability to improve their roster to around four high-paying players, arguably leading to the aforementioned Kadri trade and carries key players. like whatZach HeymanResign as a free agent.
While Tavares is certainly a valuable player, he's not the Maple Leafs player he's been ever since.new york islanders... Tavares has two years left on his contract with a non-transfer clause.
4. Protect Hall over Mikan
Some may see this as an afterthought, but the Leafs made a deliberate mistake in deciding to protect the team in 2020-21.justin's living roominsideseattle mermaidexpansion project instead of newly acquiredJared McCannDubas's team believes Holl can become a top four defensive player by leaving McCann unprotected. McCann has become a dynamic goalscorer for the Kraken, netting 40 goals last season and 67 in the past two years.
Hall, on the other hand, has been a healthy scratch or liability in many of Toronto's postseason losses this year. The team overestimated Hall's development and thus missed out on a quality goalscorer. Yes, there were limit issues that caused this, but this could have been fixed with more adjustments to the list. The Leafs' second-goal issues, especially around playoff time, made this play even more painful.
5. The Leafs are overpaying for goal depth
Since the start of the 2020-21 season it is clear that the Maple Leafs are not going to stayFrederick AndersenNeed another goalie partner as a free agentjack campbell.which led dubas to become a veteran netizenpedro muraz, is coming to the end of a year of performance, albeit with a small sample.
Amazingly, the Leafs gave Mrazek a three-year deal worth $11.4 million. It's not a huge amount, but saying so is a blatant misstep. Mrazek returned to the Leafs with arguably the worst season of his career, playing in just 20 games with a 3.34 field goal average and the worst average of his career.
Mrazek struggled with injuries all season, a mistake the Leafs were quick to admit, and had to forfeit 13 picks in the 2022 draft and drop out of the first round just to dump the last two years of Mrazek's inflated contract.
Last season, the Maple Leafs' acquisition of Matt Murray was just as bad, which could cause some problems for the team.
Kyle Dubas' top 5 plays as Leafs GM
1. The sheets areSnout
It's not a bargain, but the cost of acquiring Muzzin in 2019 was well worth it. Muzzin provided much-needed toughness, leadership and dependable play to a Leafs defense that lacked them. It was Dubas's first big deal and it's still one of the best he's done.toronto.
to beking of angelsreceivedKarl Grundstrom,Sean Durzi, and a 2019 first-round pick, but this game-changing move by Dubas intensified a glaring weakness that lasted several seasons.
2. Leafs solves goalie problem with Campbell trade
Goaltending was a sore point early on this list, but one of Dubas' best plays helped fill a short-term goaltending need ahead of the 2020 trade deadline. Dubas has bought players he knows well, Campbell and Kyle Clifford, for one low price. , from the Kings in exchange for Trevor Moore, a third-round pick and a conditional 2021 third-round pick.
Campbell provided the Maple Leafs with needed stability in the second half of the 2020 season before becoming a full-time starter for the next two seasons. Campbell was a good deal that paid off for Toronto.
3. Continuing from Babcock
For such a young general manager, being involved in the decision to replace one of the best coaches in the NHL was no small feat. But after 18 months as general manager, it was clear the Leafs were in trouble, and Mike Babcock was fired as head coach in November 2019.
Dubas's only head coaching change involved replacing Babcock with Sheldon Keefe, a close confidant of Maple Leafs executives. The Leafs turned things around immediately after Keefe took over, and he proved to be a stabilizing force for the club over the next few seasons. It was a bold move that paid off, considering how much time and money remained on Babcock's contract.
4. Agreement term 2023
Dubas had to learn on the job as a young general manager, so it took him a while to master his trade. He made progress on acquiring players before the 2023 trade deadline, achievinglucas shane, Ryan O'Reilly,Noel Acchari,Sam Rafferty, miJack McCabe, both of whom were major contributors to the Maple Leafs' first-round playoff win.lightning bay cap.
The Maple Leafs ended up suffering a lossFlorida, but Schenn was one of the team's most consistent quarterbacks in the playoffs, while Acciari and Lafferty were two of the few players who exceeded expectations against the Panthers. Regardless of the end result, it's a good process for the Leafs to go further.
5. Find potential gems in the draft
It may have been rushed, but for all his talent for acquiring creative players, Dubas couldn't find quality in the draft. One bright spot, however, appears to be the team's 2021 pick with the 57th overall pick, Minnesota forward Matthew Nyce.
While Knies has a long way to go and needs a bigger sampler, he looked like a legit player in his NHL debut for Toronto during the playoffs before suffering a concussion.knock him out from black panther series... He was an impact offensive player against Tampa Bay and has made a remarkable difference since breaking into the lineup.
With so much money spent on their stars, the Leafs are in desperate need of quality shooters with rookie contracts, which makes Knies a major asset going forward.