Leafs may have absolutely fleeced the Ottawa Senators in a previous draft day trade
During the second round of the 2020 NHL draft, the Ottawa Senators traded up to select Tyler Kleven 44th overall. The team the Sens traded with? None other than Kyle Dubas and the Leafs. The Leafs received picks 59 and 64 in exchange for the 44th pick. Those two picks were used to select Roni Hirvonen (59th) and Topi Niemela (64th).
While Hirvonen and Niemela have signed entry-level contracts and continue to play in the Finnish Elite League (SM-Liiga) to develop, Kleven is currently in his third season at the University of North Dakota, unsigned and trending downwards in his potential.
Granted, Kleven is just 3 points off of his career high at UND with 20 games remaining, his underlying numbers have dropped significantly. He is now producing negative goals per game, a negative goals for per 60 minutes when on the ice and is taking way more penalties than he is drawing. His ability to win puck battles has also trended downwards into a negative value which should be of concern considering he is 6'4 and 200 pounds. A player that big should be able to use his size and muscle players off of the puck and should come out with it more often than not.
There is no need to say he is a bust just yet, as he is only 20 years old, but he would seem to be much farther behind in development when compared to Hirvonen and Niemela, who were selected after him. Time will tell, but for now, it looks like Kyle Dubas fleeced Pierre Dorion in another trade.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 14 | 257 ANSWERS Leafs may have absolutely fleeced the Ottawa Senators in a previous draft day trade Rate this trade for the Leafs on a scale of 1-10: | ||
| 1-3 | 57 | 22.2 % |
| 4-6 | 44 | 17.1 % |
| 7-9 | 95 | 37 % |
| 10 | 61 | 23.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
