Leafs GM Kyle Dubas' top-3 worst trades
Leafs Nation appears to be split between those who appreciate Kyle Dubas, and those who do not. I'm not necessarily a fan of Kyle Dubas, but with that said, I also wrote an article shredding Mark Hunter's draft resume, so I don't play favourites.
3. Leafs trade Mason Marchment to the Florida Panthers for Denis Malgin
I'm warming up with a light one here. This trade can easily be forgotten, if not for the fact that Marchment has played 46 games for the Panthers, recording 20 points, while Malgin played just 8 games for the Leafs and was held scoreless.
Marchment is a big, bruising forward who Dubas believed in enough to develop, but not enough to keep around apparently. In return, Dubas got his «type» of a player in 5'9 4th-rounder Denis Malgin. To sum it up, it looks bad on paper, but I doubt it will be the difference in a cup run.
2. Leafs trade first and fourth round picks to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Nick Foligno and a fourth round pick to The San Jose Sharks for Stefan Noesen
This one is 100% buyer's remorse. I was a firm believer that the 2021 Leafs needed Nick Foligno, and he had a decent start in Toronto 4 assists in 7 games, before suffering a significant injury.
Foligno's playoff contribution was just 1 assist in 4 games, all while trying to battle through the injury. Nick just couldn't get healthy with the Buds and, ultimately, Dubas could not afford to re-sign him.
Let's be fair here, I'm not sure that Leafs Nation really wanted the Leafs to re-sign Foligno, but 11 games and a total of 5 points for a first round pick is just a putrid return on investment. Retaining him for at least one more season could have helped to softened the blow.
Noesen was simply a throw-in for some depth.
1. Toronto Maple Leafs trade Nazem Kadri, Calle Rosen and a 3rd round pick (Jean-Luc Foudy) to the Colorado Avalanche for Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, and a 6th round pick (Joe Miller)
Where do I even begin? I hated this trade beyond all measure at the time, and still do. Yes, Naz made some big mistakes during his time in Toronto and maybe he deserved the supplemental discipline, but I don't think this was the route that the Leafs needed to take.
Tyson Barrie was an unmitigated disaster in Toronto under Mike Babcock, but was admittedly better under Sheldon Keefe. That said, he was never going to re-sign in Toronto.
Until this season, the Leafs badly mismanaged Alexander Kerfoot. Kerfoot is often one of the main names dropped in Leafs armchair GM trade proposals, although that chatter has quieted down significantly of late, as Kerfoot has been playing excellent hockey as a top 6 winger, rather than as the center he was miscast as for much of his tenure as a Leaf.
Now onto Kadri, Who is right now having a career year as he sits in the top 5 in league scoring. However, it has to be said that Naz was once again suspended again in the 2021 playoffs for a blatant headshot in the Avs' opening round victory over the St. Louis Blues.
Kadri was in Toronto for some of the darkest years in franchise history, and I believe that he deserved to be in blue and white if and when they finally began to experience postseason success. I will probably never forgive this trade, and simply put, I don't want to. This one may wind up being the biggest black mark on Kyle Dubas' tenure as Leafs GM.
