Ranking the worst moves made by Kyle Dubas during his tenure in Toronto
Kyle Dubas made many mistakes when he was in Toronto, but these may be the 3 worst moves during his tenure with the Maple Leafs.
Former Leaf Zach Hyman is having an incredible season for the Edmonton Oilers. Hyman is currently leading the playoffs with an impressive 16 goals. The Toronto native also put up a staggering 54 goals during the regular season. Letting Hyman walk to the Oilers for only a $5.5M AVV is truly haunting.
NHL analyst, Chris Johnston thinks this may be the worst move made by former GM Kyle Dubas during his tenure in Toronto. I am here to remind you of a few moves even worse than losing Hyman, in my opinion.
Let's rank the top 3 worst moves made by the Leafs former GM Kyle Dubas.
3) Leaving Jared McCann unprotected during the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
As you may or may not recall, 40-goal scorer Jared McCann was a Leaf for a few days at one point.
Dubas pulled off an incredible move by stealing the skillful McCann from the Pittsburgh Penguins for a nothing prospect and a 7th round pick. However, it was short-lived, as McCann was unprotected in the expansion draft, allowing the Leafs to protect Justin Holl.
McCann was selected by the Kraken during the expansion draft and has put up 3 straight 25-goal seasons for the club since, including a 40-goal season in 2022-23. Woof.
2) The Nick Foligno trade deadline acquisition.
When the Leafs acquired Foligno in a 3-way trade with Columbus and San Jose for a 1st round pick and two 4th rounders, the price they paid was largely viewed as too high for an aging veteran.
Foligno ended up hurting his back immediately, and only played in 7 games in the regular season and 4 playoff games. He scored a total of 0 goals for the Leafs during that time.
While you can't blame Dubas for Foligno getting injured, it was a bad trade regardless. Folingo's best days were already behind him when the trade was made. This trade shows us that sometimes the best move at the trade deadline is no move if it involves moving your first round pick for essentially nothing.
1) Trading away Nazem Kadri.
Prior to last season, when you thought of the Maple Leafs, you thought of a team lacking grit and physicality, and Nazem Kadri is the pure embodiment of those 2 attributes, but he also possessed a ton of skill.
Trading Kadri made no sense. The Leafs traded the former London Knight along with a depth defender and 3rd rounder, to the Colorado Avalanche for Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot and a 6th round pick.
Tyson Barrie was, to put it bluntly, abysmal for Toronto, as he clearly did not fit in with the club's play style. Barrie only lasted 1 mediocre season with the Leafs.
Alex Kerfoot, on the other hand, was a pretty decent Leaf, but had nowhere near the same effect on the team that Kadri had. Kerfoot often forgot how to score and disappeared entirely in many games.
The Leafs have still not found a replacement for Kadri, who may have been the best 3C in the league at the time of the trade.
Dubas made many mistakes in Toronto, but these 3 were the worst, in my opinion.
Honourable mention: trading away Mason Marchment for Dennis Malgin and trading their 1st round pick to move the Patrick Marleau contract.
Source: Sportsnet Maple Leafs trade Kadri, Rosen to Avalanche for Barrie, Kerfoot
| POLL | ||
23 JUIN | 733 ANSWERS Ranking the worst moves made by Kyle Dubas during his tenure in Toronto Would the Leafs have been better off right now if Kyle Dubas had never been hired to replace Lou Lamoriello? | ||
| Yes | 518 | 70.7 % |
| No | 142 | 19.4 % |
| Unsure | 73 | 10 % |
| List of polls | ||
