Analyst shreds Kyle Dubas for setting Brad Treliving up for failure by trading so many draft picks
It's no secret that the Maple Leafs want to make a push to shore up their blueline. Leafs GM Brad Treliving has been talking since the summer about re-vamping the blueline in Toronto, but aside from adding John Klingberg, who appears to be damaged goods at best right now, and a pair of depth defensemen in Simon Benoit and William Lagesson, the Leafs really haven't done much to improve upon the group that they iced last season. In fact, you could look at the situation and suggest that they have, perhaps, downgraded a bit.
A huge part of the problem right now, and something that may actually be holding up a potential deal, is that the Leafs are dealing with severely depleted draft capital, after former GM Kyle Dubas traded a total of 5 draft picks in the first 3 rounds through the next 3 drafts, including each of the Leafs' next three 2nd round picks.
As it stands, the Leafs do not own their 2024 2nd round or 3rd round picks. They do not own their 2025 1st round and 2nd round picks and they do not own their 2026 2nd round pick. These are typically the types of draft picks that can move a deal along and help to push it over the finish line, but without these draft picks available to them, they're really going to have to get creative if they want to acquire an impact defenseman.
On Thursday afternoon, during an episode of Real Kyper and Bourne, Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne were lucky enough to have Sportsnet's Jason Bukala on the show to discuss a wide range of topics, including what to make of the mess that Kyle Dubas left behind for Brad Treliving. When asked what he makes of the potentially problematic draft capital situation in Toronto, Bukala had this to say:
Imagine this. Imagine they throw it at the wall and they say 'we're going to throw in our 2024 1st and our 2026 1st', obviously lottery protected. But then, you've got no picks in the 1st and the 2nd round for the next 3 years, so if it doesn't go right, where are we a year from now?" - Bukala on the Leafs potentially being outbid for Zadorov and Tanev because of the weakness of their draft capital
Kypreos was quick to ask what type of damage that we can expect this to do to the franchise for the next 5-10 years. Bukala emphasized that he believes that it's very possible that we could be headed towards a scenario where the Leafs "fall off a cliff for 5 years", due to a lack of 1st and 2nd round talent coming in.
Granted, the Leafs still have the likes of Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan on the way, but their particularly thin group of center prospects and defensive prospects is certainly a cause for concern - especially with how they've structured themselves, cap-wise. With the team paying so much to the top 4 or 5 players on the team, they're going to need to rely on inexpensive players to round out the roster. They're going to need players coming in on entry-level deals and players who are waivers exempt to be able to perform their annual salary cap gymnastics routine.
The Leafs are in "win now" mode, yes, but with the organization not having gone beyond the 2nd round in the entire Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares era, dealing away all of their high draft picks has the potential to turn very ugly very quickly.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 17 | 332 ANSWERS Analyst shreds Kyle Dubas for setting Brad Treliving up for failure by trading so many draft picks Do the Leafs even have the assets they need to be able to trade for a Chris Tanev or Nikita Zadorov? | ||
| Yes | 196 | 59 % |
| No | 136 | 41 % |
| List of polls | ||
