Who needs draft capital when you can get Erik Gustafsson and Jake McCabe, right? The Toronto Maple Leafs are really sinking all of their chips into the playoffs this year as they have hollowed out their draft haul for rentals and aging veterans to finally make it out of the first round.
Could Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas have shown that his job is on the line in any better way than with the moves he’s made these last two weeks?
Not only has he gone all in on the veteran rental market with acquisitions like Blackhawks defenseman Jake McCabe, Capitals defenseman Erik Gustafsson, Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn, and Blues center Ryan O’Rielly, but they have destroyed any chance of supplementing an aging roster with youth as they traded away 7 future picks.
In the last two weeks alone, the Maple Leafs have traded away their 2023 1st round pick, 2025 1st round pick, 2024 2nd round pick, 2026 2nd round pick, 2023 3rd round pick (originally from Ottawa), 2023 3rd round pick 2025 4th round pick, valuable depth forward Pierre Engvall, and young defensemen Rasmus Sandin.
Sure, they got back a 2023 1st round pick from the Capitals (originally from the Bruins), 2024 5th round pick, and a 2025 5th round pick from these trades, but these aren’t nearly as valuable as the assets they gave up for pretty questionable players. Now, of course, all of these players will have an impact on Toronto’s roster as they have all proven their worth in the NHL, but I’m not so sure they’ll be valuable for Toronto in the long haul.
Definitely not as valuable as the 2025 and 2026 picks will be when Austin Matthews is 28 (2026 age), Mitch Marner is 28 (2026), William Nylander is 29 (2026), Morgan Rielly is 31 (2026), John Tavares is 35 (2026), and Jake Muzzin is 37 (2026).
Gustafsson is 30, O’Rielly is 32, McCabe is 29, and Schenn is 33, while Engvall is 26 and Sandin is 22. Simply put, the Maple Leafs got a lot older in less than two weeks and have abandoned the hope that they could hit big on a 1st round pick in the upcoming drafts to replace aging players like Tavares, O’Rielly, Muzzin, and Rielly.
Though, I don’t think Kyle Dubas cares.
If the Maple Leafs lose in the 1st round again (or even in the 2nd round), Dubas is a dead man walking in Toronto as he would have failed his job yet again. Thus, what do these 2-4 year away picks matter to him if he’s either working for another organization or sitting on his couch unemployed?
Nevertheless, bringing in four new starting roster players and trading away two other starting players is bound to mess with the chemistry and bond this team has built up over the last six months. The pressure of “having to win now” such moves inevitably incites will surely burn away at this underachieving roster, while the diehard, vocal Toronto fans will be expected at least a Conference Finals appearance.
Maybe that’s a good thing and players like Matthews, Marner, and Tavares will go on a tear in the playoffs and help Toronto get to a Conference Finals or better, but I’m not too confident that’ll happen with the history of this team. Let us not forget that this Maple Leafs team has failed to get out of the 1st round in each of the last six seasons, while the franchise has not won a playoff series since 2004.
In my opinion, getting Ryan O’Rielly and just one of the three defensemen (preferably Luke Schenn) they acquired would have been fantastic moves as they are players with experience and the nous to win in the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs didn’t need a roster revamp as they are currently 2nd in the Atlantic Division and 4th in the Eastern Conference with 80 points, while the Boston Bruins, who are having a historic season, are the only team ahead of them in the division. They’re having another great season, though you’d never think that with all of these moves.
O’Rielly and one defense addition for a few draft picks could have put them over the edge when they face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning (3rd in Atlantic) in the 1st round. Getting five new players and shopping out established starters only serves to add too much pressure and chemistry confusion on an already psychologically weak team.
For the sake of all Maple Leaf fans, the team better win a playoff round or else the city of Toronto might actually riot.
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