Ilya Lyubushkin walks away from Leafs in favour of a large contract in Dallas

Lyubushkin's second stint with the Maple Leafs was short and sweet as he has now found greener pastures on the open market after signing with the Dallas Stars on a 2-year deal worth $3.25 million, according to Elliotte Friedman.

Joel Edmundson was, of course, the other Leafs defenseman to depart on Monday, finding a new home as he signed a deal with the Los Angeles Kings.

Originally acquired by the Maple Leafs in 2021-22 from the Arizona Coyotes for Nick Ritchie and a conditional draft pick, Lyubushkin played in 31 regular season games that year and totalled 2 goals and 6 points before tallying an assist in 7 post-season contests.

He walked as an unrestricted free agent and signed in Buffalo but found his way back to the Maple Leafs 2 years later. As part of a three-team trade at the end of February, Lyubushkin was sent back to Toronto from the Anaheim Ducks for a third round pick in 2025, while the Carolina Hurricanes also received a sixth round pick in 2024 for brokering the deal and retaining some of the salary.

Lyubushkin recorded 4 assists in 19 contests and averaged 17:03 TOI while playing his bruising style of hockey with 64 hits and 30 blocked shots. He added 3 assists in 7 playoff games and dropped the hammer with 29 hits and 7 blocked shots. He will now join a Stars backend that just added Brendan Smith and Matt Dumba.

Source for Ilya Lyubushkin's statistics: hockey-reference
Ilya Lyubushkin