Maple Leafs GM Dubas Far From Done After Matthews’ Extension
With Auston Matthews’ extension done, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas faces his toughest challenge yet.
Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas has been a busy man in his first year on the job and he won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Another major domino of the Maple Leafs’ future fell into place Tuesday afternoon when Dubas managed to sign franchise center Auston Matthews to a five-year, $58.15 million contract extension. For those keeping track at home, that’s his fourth significant move since taking over as general manager last spring and his third in the past two months.
Dubas managed to sign the biggest free agent in NHL history with the addition of John Tavares last July. He then re-signed William Nylander after a lengthy negotiation that went down to the wire in early December.
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Back in January, Dubas acquired Jake Muzzin without trading anything off the main roster. With Matthews inked to an extension, he has created a six-year window for the Maple Leafs to aggressively compete for the Stanley Cup, starting immediately.
By having Matthews and Tavares signed for what should be six playoff runs, Dubas has removed the training wheels and let it be known its now Stanley Cup or bust in Toronto. No longer will growing pains be tolerated or moral victories get touted. It’s all or nothing given the significant cap crunch the Maple Leafs are inevitably headed towards.
For the past two seasons, Toronto has failed to make it out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That’ll no longer be acceptable going forward given the amount of salary handed out to key players. As a result of the high expectations, don’t be surprised if Dubas is far from done making moves prior to the Feb. 25 trade deadline.
The Maple Leafs still have roughly $4 million in cap space to work with this season. They’ve already dealt their 2019 first-round pick in order to acquire Muzzin, which suggests any additional moves by Dubas would be minor ones as opposed to the major variety such as a Wayne Simmonds trade.
However, it’s not as if Toronto is short on goal scoring and top-six forwards, therefore trades to acquire depth, grit, and sandpaper for their bottom-six forwards is most likely. Those types of deals likely wouldn’t break the bank in terms of cost to acquire any incoming players.
Even in the event the Maple Leafs did choose to break the bank in order to acquire a big fish such as Simmonds, it’s not as if Toronto is short on draft picks and quality prospects. This isn’t the early-to-mid 2000s Maple Leafs where the cupboards were bare for prospects and draft picks kept flying out the door in exchange for players on their last legs.
The Maple Leafs own all their draft picks in the first four rounds of the next three drafts with the exception of the 2019 first-rounder used on Muzzin. The club’s prospect cupboard is also as full as it’s ever been in recent years after successful drafts and the Toronto Marlies winning the Calder Cup last season.
Then there’s been the strong play of main roster wingers Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, as either could be used as the biggest piece of a package to acquire a significant trade deadline addition.
The GM still has his hands full trying to extend Mitch Marner to a new contract. He’ll also need to massage potentially $4 million of performance bonuses to Matthews and Marner in either this season’s salary cap or next season. However, it’s highly unlikely an active GM such as Dubas would allow the Feb. 25 trade deadline to come and go without finding a way to continue to add to his roster.
Maple Leafs All-Time Dream Team. dark. Next
Dubas hasn’t wasted any time getting his feet wet in his first year on the job, in fact he’s probably cannonballed into the pool given all he’s already accomplished. Don’t be surprised if he continues to be active leading up to his first trade deadline in charge.