Kyle Dubas officially got hosed by the Ottawa Senators
This past summer, as the Leafs were deliberating what to do with their goaltending situation, one intriguing option presented itself to Kyle Dubas and company. That option was to pivot from Jack Campbell to Matt Murray, and not only did Dubas acquire Matt Murray from the Sens at a bit of a discounted rate, he was also paid 2 draft picks to take him off of the Sens' hands.
The deal for the Leafs made some sense, given Murray's history as a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, who has a solid record in the postseason. In the end, the Sens retained 25% of Murray's contract, which carried a $6.25M cap hit through 2023-24, and sent the Leafs a 2023 3rd round pick and a 2024 7th round pick as compensation for taking on 2 years of Murray's deal. The Leafs sent nothing back to the Sens, but future considerations, which almost always equates to nothing at all.
Well, that deal may have appeared to be a fair one at the time, but today's trade involving Nikita Zaitsev may have shifted the Murray trade from a Dubas W to a Dubas L. For those who missed it, Zaitsev was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks today along with a 2023 2nd round pick and a 2026 4th round pick in exchange for future considerations.
So how does this impact Dubas and the Leafs in any way, shape or form? Well, for starters, Dubas not only took on a player with a larger contract - he did so with a full 2 years left on the deal. Kyle Davidson and the Blackhawks are only taking on a year, plus a month and a half of Zaitsev's deal. In addition, Zaitsev's full cap hit ($4.5M AAV) is lower than what the Leafs are paying Matt Murray even with that 25% retention from Ottawa ($4.687M AAV).
The Leafs did the Sens more of a favour than anything else by agreeing to take on the Murray deal. Had Dubas pushed a little harder for some additional retention or for a better sweetener, maybe we wouldn't be talking about this at all. But the fact that Kyle Davidson got a better sweetener for taking on Nikita Zaitsev than the Leafs got for taking on Murray certainly isn't sitting too well with some. It's even worse that not only is one sweetener higher in the Zaitsev deal.. they're both higher (a 2nd and a 4th for Chicago vs a 3rd and a 7th for Toronto).
Granted, Murray is a little more of an asset to the Leafs than Zaitsev will be to the Hawks, but still.. Dorion may have pulled a fast one on Dubas here.
| POLL | ||
22 FEVRIER | 511 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas officially got hosed by the Ottawa Senators Did Dubas get hosed by Pierre Dorion in the Matt Murray trade? | ||
| Yes | 236 | 46.2 % |
| No | 142 | 27.8 % |
| That's a bit of a reach | 133 | 26 % |
| List of polls | ||
