Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Fails to Capitalize on Kyle Dubas's Gifts

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TJ Tucker
July 17, 2023 (8:18 PM)

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The departure of Kyle Dubas from the Toronto Maple Leafs was far from usual. Getting unceremoniously booted from the general manager's position seems far more based on the rift between him and President Brendan Shanahan than it did the team's performance.

Despite Toronto's lack of a deep run in the playoffs, Dubas left the team in very good shape, and the Leafs new GM squandered it.

Great Shape

Going into next season, Dubas still had his core four of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander locked down. Deals would need to be dealt with eventually, but there was time.

Dubas had also built a pretty nice base around the his main players, and Brad Treliving let pretty most of them walk. Will his replacements be enough?

Image: Toronto Star

The Replacements

When Dubas left the team, there were 10 restricted free agents, young guys looking for a shot at a full-time role.

Rather than see who might be ready to take the next step, Treliving dropped $16 million in cap space on Ryan Reaves, David Kampf, Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, and John Kling, While the team is definitely grittier, it's debatable whether it's better, and really only time will tell. But, Dubas was patient, waiting until the trade deadline to add mid-range players rather than dumping cash in free agency. He added Noel Acciari and Ryan O'Reilly for very little in return, and much lower money that late in the season.

Treliving added short-term contracts that include big money, leaving him little to no space to tweak at the deadline. His cards are already down and it will be difficult to pull one out of his sleeve. Dubas left wiggle room and refused to show his hand.

Source: EditorInLeaf.com