News Article: How Dubas' shrewd spending has paid off long-term for Leafs

[Hellcat]

A sigh of relief went out across the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base today when it saw a certain piece of news hit the wire midway through the afternoon.

At 2 pm ET, the Edmonton Oilers officially announced their decision to waive veteran goaltender Jack Campbell after he’d struggled mightily through the first year and a bit of his five-year contract with the club.

Through five games this season, Campbell has a 1-4-0 record and a .873 save percentage, putting up just a .888 save percentage and a 21-9-4 mark the year prior.

And after Campbell had spent the prior three seasons before joining the Oilers with Toronto, Leafs fans everywhere seemed to have the same thought: at least it wasn’t us.

Toronto had shown some interest in bringing back Campbell into its fold in the summer of 2022 but ultimately hadn’t been willing to commit the $25 million over five years that Ken Holland and the Oilers agreed to give him in free agency.

And while he ended up leaving Toronto in high-profile fashion this past spring, credit is due to former Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas for not being willing to shell out the cash for Campbell.

A year prior, Dubas faced a similar bidding war with the Oilers, where he saw winger Zach Hyman leave his hometown team for a seven-year, $38.5 million deal with Edmonton, while also losing Frederik Andersen to the Carolina Hurricanes on a two-year, $9 million deal.

In both offseasons, Dubas opted to search for other players to fill Toronto’s holes, bringing in Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray as goaltenders in 2022 while signing Michael Bunting out of Arizona to become the team’s new stopgap top-six forward option.

Bunting left after two seasons with Toronto to join Carolina as well, while Murray’s injury struggles continued in Toronto and he’s currently on long-term injured reserve.

Samsonov, meanwhile, is having his own struggles in net for Toronto in his second year with the team, sporting just a .855 save percentage and a 2-1-2 record in his seven appearances.

The difference, however, is that while Edmonton is looking at a player like Campbell being on its books for the long term in some shape or form even if they buy him out, Toronto at least has plenty of cap flexibility moving forward to navigate any issues it might have in net.

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How Dubas' shrewd spending has paid off long-term for Leafs | Offside

A sigh of relief went out across the Leafs fan base today when it saw a certain piece of news hit the wire midway through the afternoon.

dailyhive.com

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[cyris]

I’m sure this thread is going to go well lol

 

[DarkKnight]

Such a brain dead article, thank Christ Murray is on long term, which is pure luck. So shrewd lol.

 

[hotpaws]

why are we making threads for bloggers ?

 

[kevsh]

How about that sigh of relief when we saw Mrazek start for Chicago just after Murray was put on LTIR?

Walking away from an oft-injured goalie and replacing him with an even more, err, oft-injured one. Shrewd is not the word that first comes to mind.

 

[MCR74]

I look forward to Kyle's shrewd spending in Pittsburgh for the next 7 years.

 

[I am Canadian]

Dubas put his eggs in the wrong basket. He designed this team with the intention that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander would carry them offensively. They didn't.

That's on him, and it's also on the top 3 + Nylander to a lesser extent.

Dubas made his mistakes with the leftover cap, but dealt with them. He also was better at player evaluations than Treliving has been so far [yes its very early].

 

[Gallagbi]

Such a brain dead article, thank Christ Murray is on long term, which is pure luck. So shrewd lol.

I don't think anyone is surprised with the Murray outcome, LTIR always felt the backup if his play wasnt up to par

 

[Gary Nylund]

Dubas put his eggs in the wrong basket. He designed this team with the intention that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander would carry them offensively. They didn't.

That's on him, and it's also on the top 3 + Nylander to a lesser extent.

Dubas made his mistakes with the leftover cap, but dealt with them. He also was better at player evaluations than Treliving has been so far [yes its very early].

To a much greater extent IMO. He bet that these guys could get the job done, instead they lost 5 consecutive game 7's (CLB was game 5), most of them in embarrassing fashion. Then they finally won a round, only to get bounced by huge underdog Florida. You'd have to be Nostradamus to somehow know that these guys will always get to game 7, and then always suck in that game 7. I've never seen anything like it in 50+ years of following pro sports - can anyone give me one example where a team has lost 5 consecutive game 7's?

He bet on this core, 99% of GM's would have done the same. He made some bad moves, but also some good moves just like any other GM. And not having Campbell on the books for years to come was one of the good decision he made for sure. Long term, there are really no bad contracts we're stuck with at all, the reason were screwed is that we've traded our futures away in an attempt to "win now" but once again, 99% of all GM's would have been trying to "win now" with this core the last few years as well.

Keep piling on guys, but I stand by what I've said many times - Dubas did a lot better job here than most give him credit for.

 

[Hellcat]

I’m sure this tread is going to go well lol

That is the reason why I posted this, alternate opinions are always welcomed

 

[hotpaws]

Dubas put his eggs in the wrong basket. He designed this team with the intention that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander would carry them offensively. They didn't.

That's on him, and it's also on the top 3 + Nylander to a lesser extent.

Dubas made his mistakes with the leftover cap, but dealt with them. He also was better at player evaluations than Treliving has been so far [yes its very early].

what payer evaluations was he better at ?

G - Sparky/Pistol Pete/Murray

D - you can give him Muzzin and Brodie but both were known commodities and only short term assets at there age , he overpaid for McCabe/Gio and then there were all the small puck movers he drafted for some unknown reason

F - he threw a bunch of shit at the wall and only Bunting stuck from the one's that he didn't pay threw the ass for like ROR as rental

and then there were all his bad trades

as far as Tre goes we'll wait have to wait and see how he does but at least he won't have to pay to ''deal'' with his mistakes like Dubas had to


and sorry i don't mean to dump on you even though if it looks that way , it's just i don't understand how anyone can look at the team Dubas took over and believe he did even just an average job the last 5 years

 

[notbias]

far as Tre goes we'll wait have to wait and see how he does but at least he won't have to pay to ''deal'' with his mistakes like Dubas had to

Currently, we are paying with a wasted season... it'd be nice if he moved some of these terrible contracts (likely with an asset attached) quickly.

If Treliving admits his mistakes (we can wait a little longer to see if they will turn it around but not much), and salvages the season, I'd be very happy that we have a GM who puts the team first and doesn't care how he looks.

We might end up putting Klingberg and Reaves in the minors and that will be like 4 million in dead cap. I fear for Mess and a few others if this happens, they obsess over the cap so much, that I can't imagine what this might do to them health wise...

 

[ITM]

Boggles the mind that with Dubas' Table all but still fully set, this reporter calls Campbell's exit as an example as to our fanbase can sigh relief.

What the deuce?

Next year, if Nylander is a Leaf he will be making between 12-13% of our cap hit.

We will have two NHL defencemen signed and one goalie with ten spots filled for about $20M dollars: Reilly, McCabe and Woll, are fine pieces.

But the terrible, terrible truth of it is, there's little chance, ten new faces for $20M is going to bring much needed chemistry with them.

I think what the reporter meant was, Dubas got lucky.

Eric Tulsky is an example of dependable shrewd judgement.

I don't begrudge Treliving's off-season moves in the least. It's darts. Those names would have attracted me as well given the alleged talent on our club. Most of us gave him (and deservedly so) an A+ for the moves he made. Chemistry hasn't happened.

But this is Dubas' table; We won't see Treliving's team outside of some major moves or at least until 2025-2026.

 

[hotpaws]

Currently, we are paying with a wasted season... it'd be nice if he moved some of these terrible contracts (likely with an asset attached) quickly.

If Treliving admits his mistakes (we can wait a little longer to see if they will turn it around but not much), and salvages the season, I'd be very happy that we have a GM who puts the team first and doesn't care how he looks.

We might end up putting Klingberg and Reaves in the minors and that will be like 4 million in dead cap. I fear for Mess and a few others if this happens, they obsess over the cap so much, that I can't imagine what this might do to them health wise...

you didn't care about Dubas wasting 5 seasons so why do you care with 1 more ?

only berg looks like a terrible deal , Domi's played very well since he was moved to C and Reaves can be buried in the minors at minimal cost

Bert played better lately and played well last game even if he didn't score so the jury is still out on him

but instead of constantly complaining tell me who you wanted the team to get in the off season because there wasn't much of anything on the ufa market

 

[ToneDog]

what payer evaluations was he better at ?

G - Sparky/Pistol Pete/Murray

D - you can give him Muzzin and Brodie but both were known commodities and only short term assets at there age , he overpaid for McCabe/Gio and then there were all the small puck movers he drafted for some unknown reason

F - he threw a bunch of shit at the wall and only Bunting stuck from the one's that he didn't pay threw the ass for like ROR as rental

and then there were all his bad trades

far as Tre goes we'll wait have to wait and see how he does but at least he won't have to pay to ''deal'' with his mistakes like Dubas had to


and sorry i don't mean to dump on you even though if it looks that way , it's just i don't understand how anyone can look at the team Dubas took over and believe he did even just an average job the last 5 years

God bless the posters who insist Dubas left the house in better order than the one he inherited.

#FiveWastedYears

 

[sxvnert]

Reporters still shilling for Dubas even after hes gone. Sad.

 

[LeafSteel]

I’d rather clean my cats litter boxes than read that article.

They are both filled with the same stuff….

 

[leafs in five]

I thought it was sick when JT scored an OT goal to beat eliminate a hated rival in 6 games, can't imagine what it must be like to have a relationship to the Leafs where it would cause you to feel anger or disgust.

 

[hotpaws]

God bless the posters who insist Dubas left the house in better order than the one he inherited.

#FiveWastedYears

what some people don't realize is you don't often get the opportunity to assemble the young talent the Leafs did when Dubas took over and it's mind boggling to go from what he started with to what he left and with how many assets he wasted and still have such a large amount of people worship the job he did

 

[notbias]

you didn't care about Dubas wasting 5 seasons so why do you care with 1 more ?

only berg looks like a terrible deal , Domi's played very well since he was moved to C and Reaves can be buried in the minors at minimal cost

Bert played better lately and played well last game even if he didn't score so the jury is still out on him

but instead of constantly complaining tell me who you wanted the team to get in the off season because there wasn't much of anything on the ufa market

I'd rather not have Reaves or Klingberg.

Timmins is a better version of Klingberg so if you want an offensive D take him or Gus.

Bunting could have been had for around Klingberg's cap... not sure who else, haven't looked into it much.

Gregor wasn't needed either.

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Knies - Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Domi - Bertuzzi
Lafferty - Kampf - Jarnkrok

Rielly - Brodie
McCabe - Liljegren
Gio - Timmins

Samsanov
Woll

Cap-compliant and a much better lineup.

 

[authentic]

Dubas put his eggs in the wrong basket. He designed this team with the intention that Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander would carry them offensively. They didn't.

That's on him, and it's also on the top 3 + Nylander to a lesser extent.

Dubas made his mistakes with the leftover cap, but dealt with them. He also was better at player evaluations than Treliving has been so far [yes its very early].

So far? Look at the contracts he signed Huberdeau and Kadri to in Calgary. These GMs are about as far apart as possible in the NHL and I feel sorry for anyone who truly believes Treliving is the better one

 

[hotpaws]

I'd rather not have Reaves or Klingberg.

Timmins is a better version of Klingberg so if you want an offensive D take him or Gus.

Bunting could have been had for around Klingberg's cap... not sure who else, haven't looked into it much.

Gregor wasn't needed either.

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Knies - Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Domi - Bertuzzi
Lafferty - Kampf - Jarnkrok

Rielly - Brodie
McCabe - Liljegren
Gio - Timmins

Samsanov
Woll

Cap-compliant and a much better lineup.

we still have Timmins , i'd much rather have Knies on our first line and i grew tired of Bunting's act so i'm glad he's gone

when you stop complaining and actually look at what was available in the off season you'd realize there wasn't much of anything that could have made our lineup much better

the bigger problem is Gio and Brodie also regressing

i also explained in a previous post which you seemed to ignore where our present issues started and how much better our D core would look today if our previous GM had an understanding on how to build a team

 

[DarkKnight]

I don't think anyone is surprised with the Murray outcome, LTIR always felt the backup if his play wasnt up to par

When Dubas signed him nobody said that. People were astounded Ottawa got Dubas to retain 75 percent of his albatross cap hit.

 

[notbias]

we still have Timmins , i'd much rather have Knies on our first line and i grew tired of Bunting's act so i'm glad he's gone

when you stop complaining and actually look at what was available in the off season you'd realize there wasn't much of anything that could have made our lineup much better

the bigger problem is Gio and Brodie also regressing

i also explained in a previous post which you seemed to ignore where our present issues started and how much better our D core would look today if our previous GM had an understanding on how to build a team

Keep deflecting...

 

[Gallagbi]

When Dubas signed him nobody said that. People were astounded Ottawa got Dubas to retain 75 percent of his albatross cap hit.

...I get 3 pages of results if i seach LTIR in his acquisition thread. Im sure not all are "projections" but you arent getting that in most trade threads.

He's had ongoing health issues for some time, this wasnt a surprise