Pressure is on Leafs GM to do more at the deadline
Dubas runs a team that’s underachieved and needs more help
Since going out in the first round of last year’s playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs have made changes. Many of them.
They’ve fired their coach. They traded Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown, Nikita Zaitsev, Patrick Marleau and Trevor Moore. They parted ways with a first-round draft pick and two third-round picks, as well as a conditional draft choice.
In total, they’ve turned over 40 per cent of the roster that lost in Game 7 to the Boston Bruins.
And yet, heading into Monday’s trade deadline, it’s difficult to imagine another GM under more pressure to further tweak a lineup that at times doesn’t look good enough to reach the playoffs than Kyle Dubas.
Then again, it’s difficult to come up with a team that has underachieved as much as the Leafs have this season.
Remember, this is a team coming off consecutive 100-point seasons. A team that, after re-signing Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the summer and luring John Tavares in free agency the year before, has three of the NHL’S top-earning players.
You say they were expected to qualify for the playoffs? Well, thanks, Captain Obvious.
This was the year in which Toronto had to take a giant step forward. The Leafs didn’t just need to win a playoff round. They needed to at least reach the conference final for fans to put down their pitchforks and for Dubas to get off the hot seat.
And if you think acquiring a backup goalie and a fourth-line forward means Dubas’ work is done, think again. Not with Pittsburgh having added speedy winger Jason Zucker from Minnesota and Tampa bolstering a roster that’s won 11 straight with the addition of top-6 forward Blake Coleman from New Jersey.
Heck, even the Islanders are deeper after trading for Devils defenceman Andy Greene.
Winning the trade deadline doesn’t mean you’ll win a Stanley Cup. But as the Blue Jackets showed the Lightning last year when they went all-in, it could result in a first-round upset.
That has to be the fear for Dubas. It’s not about who the Leafs might add, but rather whom their rivals end up with. What if Boston lands a forward such as Chris Kreider or Ilya Kovalchuk? What if Florida ends up with a defenceman like Mathew Dumba or Josh Manson?
What if Columbus, Philadelphia and Carolina, all fighting for wild-card spots, go big?
That’s why Dubas has to add. He has to add because Toronto cannot miss the post-season. He also has to add because if they do make the playoffs and end up facing either Boston or Tampa, they don’t look like they could beat either one right now.
It’s not just Dubas and the Leafs who have to be worried.
When the Canucks picked up winger Tyler Toffoli from the Kings, it sent a message to Oilers GM Ken Holland and Flames GM Brad Treliving that the path through the Pacific Division just got more difficult.
In the Central, a Winnipeg
Jets team three points out of a wild-card spot has to be happy the Wild have become sellers at the deadline. But they also have to be aware the Avalanche, in third place in the division, are probably not going to wait with Mikko Rantanen, Kadri and goalie Philipp Grubauer out with injuries. And if you know anything about David Poile, you can also bet the Predators GM won’t sit on his hands when the trade deadline hits. No one should.
One trade could be the difference between missing a playoff spot and winning a round or two. It’s a chance for teams to get better — or to simply not fall behind.
The problem is the prices are higher than probably anybody expected. For a Leafs team that has already given up a lot in the past 12 months, it might not be worth it if it still results in another early playoff exit. Then again, for a team clinging to a playoff spot, it could prevent Dubas from answering questions about why the team missed the post-season altogether.