Kyle Dubas left the Leafs with one heck of a horrible parting gift
When the Leafs decided to part ways with Kyle Dubas this spring, the move was seen as a surprise, given the fact that there weren't many clear improvements available on the open market. In the end, the Buds hired ex-Flames GM Brad Treliving to replace him, and while we don't yet know whether or not he'll be an improvement, he can't possibly be any worse from one specific perspective.
During his time as Leafs GM, Kyle Dubas had traded 7 first round picks, which break down as follows:
2018: traded down from 25th to 29th (Rasmus Sandin) & 76th overall (Semyon Der-Arguchintsev2019: traded in Jake Muzzin deal2020: traded to Carolina to dump Patrick Marleau's contract2021: Traded to Columbus in Nick Foligno deal2022: traded down 25th to 38th (Fraser Minten) to dump Petr Mrazek's contract2023: traded to St. Louis in Ryan O'Reilly deal2025: traded to Chicago in Jake McCabe deal
Dubas did bring in 1st round picks in 2020 (Rodion Amirov) and 2023 (Easton Cowan) in trades with Pittsburgh and Washington, respectively, but the Amirov pick didn't work out as planned for very unfortunate and unavoidable reasons and it's still far too early to know what the Leafs may have in Cowan. To his credit, Fraser Minten, by all accounts, appears to be a pretty good piece, but until he plays in the NHL, the jury is still out on him as well.
Dubas is not a clairvoyant. There's no way that he could have anticipated Jake Muzzin's string of concussions, Nick Foligno's crippling back injury shortly after his arrival in Toronto, Petr Mrazek's play plummeting the way it did and the lack of playoff success last season with all of the impact moves he made to address multiple roster needs, bringing in O'Reilly and McCabe, among others. Many of these moves were viewed as solid decisions at the time. Still, even though it wasn't his intent, it doesn't change the fact that Dubas has set the Leafs back a long way with how he chose to use his 1st round picks. Not only has the impact of these decisions been felt in recent years, but it will also be felt in the future.
| POLL | ||
9 AOUT | 293 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas left the Leafs with one heck of a horrible parting gift How do you feel about Kyle Dubas' use of the Leafs' 1st round picks between 2018 and 2025? | ||
| I don't mind his use of those picks | 53 | 18.1 % |
| I think he did a horrible job | 128 | 43.7 % |
| Don't care, he's gone now | 91 | 31.1 % |
| See results | 21 | 7.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
