NHL Insider reveals a trade Kyle Dubas turned down
Everyone knows that the Leafs have been wanting to improve their defensive corps over the past few seasons. We saw the most progress on that front this season with Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren taking on more responsibility, while also adding Mark Giordano and Ilya Lyubushkin. According to Elliotte Friedman though, the Leafs could have made a massive upgrade to the blueline sooner.
This past week Friedman reported that the Panthers had proposed a trade in 2020 that would have sent Mackenzie Weegar to the Leafs in exchange for Travis Dermott and Andreas Johnsson. At the time of the proposal, Dubas said no, which made sense given the season Johnsson had just had and the progression in development from Dermott. In hindsight though, it's a deal he probably should've made. Both Dermott and Johnsson have been traded due to cap constraints and being passed on the depth chart and Weegar has become a top pairing defenseman in Florida, skating alongside Aaron Ekblad.
Who knows what the off-season might bring this year? Maybe the Leafs revisit the idea of adding Weegar. He has one year left on his current contract at a reasonable $3.25M cap hit and can play both the left and right side.
