While Sandin does have 10 points in his first 7 games as a member of the Capitals, 6 of those points came over a 2-game span. He's also failed to produce a single point in 2 additional games, but that's not the red flag here. His past 3 games have been worrisome when it comes to the defensive side of the puck. Sandin is a combined -9 over those 3 games.
Kyle Dubas caught a lot of heat for the Sandin deal. He dealt a 22-year-old former 1st round pick, who, at the beginning of this season, he called "a big part of the future" on the blueline in Toronto. While many in Leafs Nation viewed Sandin as a young cornerstone defenseman, perhaps his most recent stretch in Washington is showing us something that Dubas was able to identify early this season - which is that Sandin may not be living up to what we all expect him to. Getting out now, recouping an effective NHL defenseman and a first round pick in the process, might have been a shrewd piece of business.