Looking back at some of the better moves made by Kyle Dubas during his tenure in Toronto
Earlier in the week, we covered some of the worst moves made by Kyle Dubas during his 5 years as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He swung for the fences for a battered Nick Foligno, dumped off Nazem Kadri for 2 unproductive players, and chose to protect an undesirable asset during Seattle's expansion draft and ended up losing a young scorer in Jared McCann. However, it wasn't all terrible with Dubas at the helm, as we look at some of the better moves he executed:
1) Kyle Dubas' drafting should never be overlooked because he stocked-piled the prospect pipeline in short order.
From 2018 to 2022, the Leafs never drafted higher than 15th overall in the first round but still ended up with players like Rasmus Sandin, Sean Durzi (trade chip in Muzzin deal), Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, Nicholas Roberston, Roni Hirvonen, Topi Niemela, Matthew Knies, Ty Voit, Fraser Minten, Ryan Tverberg and Brandon Lisowsky. He also managed to load up on some intriguing young goaltenders in Artur Akhtyamov, Vyacheslav Peksa and Dennis Hildeby through the draft - all of whom have shown solid potential.
With the Maple Leafs in contention every single year, they've always been busy during the draft, during free-agency, and at the trade deadline. Dubas did a good job in keeping most of his prospects, while still acquiring some big names. Knies looks like the real deal, while Robertson, Voit, Der-Arguchintsev, Minten, Niemela, and Hirvonen look the part as good prospects.
Teams with Stanley Cup aspirations usually have barren pipelines because they've either traded their draft picks, prospects, or both. However as Dubas leaves Toronto, he was able to stock up for both the present day Leafs as well as the future.
2) Kyle Dubas acquired Jack Campbell and Kyle Clifford from the Los Angeles Kings for Trevor Moore, a third round pick in 2020, and a conditional third round pick in 2021.
In parts of 4 seasons with the Kings, Campbell compiled a 20-24-5 record in 57 games with a 2.51 G.A.A and a .918 SV%. He never seemed to get the playing time he deserved with Jonathan Quick still in the picture but he got that and then some in Toronto.
He finished the 2019-20 season sporting a 3-2-1 record with a .915 SV% and a 2.63 G.A.A for the Leafs before COVID halted the season. The following season he went 17-3-2 with a .921 SV% and a 2.15 G.A.A in the regular season and then sported a 1.81 G.A.A and a .934 SV% in their 7-game defeat to the Montreal Canadiens.
He followed that up with a 31-9-6 record in 2021-22 with a .914 SV% and a 2.64 G.A.A. He flamed out in the post-season with a disparaging 3.15 G.A.A and a .897 SV%. His 2021-22 was a tale of two halves as he started the year 17-5-2 with a .939 SV% and only allowed 45 goals in 25 games. He finished the season going 14-4-4 but with an .888 SV% and allowed 78 goals in 24 games.
Clifford played for the Leafs in parts of 3 seasons but only managed to suit up for 41 games where he scored 2 goals and 7 points, while registering 51 PIMs. Trevor Moore has scored 40 goals and 105 points in 211 games with the Kings since, including a career-high 17 goals and 48 points in 2021-22.
3) Another trade that bared fruit for the Leafs that involved the Los Angeles Kings was when they acquired Jake Muzzin for Carl Grundstrom, Sean Durzi, and a 2019 first round pick.
The price was steep but Muzzin helped shape the Leafs' D corps into a venerable unit rather quickly. Muzzin notched 18 goals and 81 points in 187 games across parts of 5 seasons in Toronto before succumbing to what many believe is a career-ending injury. He sported a +38 rating, averaged 21:11 TOI, blocked 316 shots, and delivered 387 body checks along the way. He also chipped in with 4 goals and 8 points in 22 post-season games.
At the time of the trade it was paraded and celebrated as a huge win because of how much it solidified a very weak point in the team. Muzzin was a fantastic grab and played very well until his untimely injury.
As for the pieces that got away, Grundstrom hasn't been able to make in-roads at the NHL-level just yet with 32 goals and 55 points in 186 games across 5 seasons. Tobias Bjornfot - who they drafted with the first round pick - has 1 goal and 15 points in 116 games across 4 seasons. Durzi is the only one who looks like the real deal with 12 goals and 65 points in 135 games across 2 seasons.
4) Letting Jack Campbell walk into free agency and replacing him with Ilya Samsonov worked like gangbusters for the Maple Leafs.
Now of course, the Leafs also acquired Matt Murray in the off-season but with how Samsonov finished the season and played into the playoffs, the move as a whole looks spectacular.
Campbell was rumoured to have been interested in Edmonton for quite some time and essentially priced himself out of Toronto. He signed a 5-year deal worth 25 million and 12 months later looks like the worst free agent pick-up from the summer of 2022. He lost his starting job to Stuart Skinner, posted an .888 SV%, and registered a 3.41 G.A.A in just 36 games. While Samsonov signed a one-year prove-it deal worth only 1.5 million, posted a .919 SV%, and put up a 2.33 G.A.A, all while sporting a 27-10-5 record.
There are a variety of different ways the Leafs can rid themselves of Murray this summer but Samsonov should be re-signed with Joseph Woll more than ready and capable to be his backup next year.
5) The 2023 trade deadline brought about a different version of Kyle Dubas that we rarely saw in his 5 years at the helm.
Dubas made win-now moves, all-in moves, and big trades that should've pushed them over the top.
He first acquired Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St.Louis Blues for Mikhail Abramov, Adam Gaudette, 2023 first round pick, Ottawa's 2023 third round pick, and their own second round pick from 2024. Minnesota received a 4th round pick in 2025 for retaining salary.
The Leafs acquired Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, a conditional 5th round pick in 2024, and a conditional 5th round pick in 2025 from the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional 1st round pick in 2025, a 2nd round pick in 2026, Joey Anderson, and Pavel Gogolev. McCabe had 50% of his salary retained and had 1 year remaining on his contract, while Lafferty also had 1 extra year of term remaining.
Dubas also traded a third round pick in 2023 for Luke Schenn and moved the disgruntled Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals for Boston's 1st round pick in 2023 and Erik Gustafsson.
He was still able to recoup draft picks in these trades, while solidifying his NHL roster with much needed depth, role players, and veteran leadership. O'Reilly, Acciari, and Schenn played extremely well and the Leafs are trying everything they can to bring them back for next season. While the result wasn't the intended one, with the Leafs washing out in Round 2 to Florida, the moves themselves were not the issue. By all accounts, many of these moves were deemed excellent by many pundits. Unfortunately, the Leafs' lack of execution may have folks looking back at this deadline as an underwhelming one, even if that isn't the case.
| POLL | ||
MAI 28 | 550 ANSWERS Looking back at some of the better moves made by Kyle Dubas during his tenure in Toronto What is Dubas' best move as Leafs GM? | ||
| Trading for Muzzin | 51 | 9.3 % |
| Trading for Campbell and Clifford | 23 | 4.2 % |
| Drafting Matthew Knies | 236 | 42.9 % |
| Letting Campbell walk, signing Samsonov | 240 | 43.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
