2019 NHL Draft: Biggest winners and losers from Vancouver

Winner: Kyle Dubas

The main goal for Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is to get RFA Mitch Marner signed, but that’s for another day. Dubas needs to give himself a pat on the back after a wonderful showing in Vancouver this weekend.

For starters, he was able to clear the final year of Marleau’s contract that carries a hefty $6.25 million cap hit by unloading the future Hall of Famer to the Carolina Hurricanes. Dubas did have to attach conditional 2020 first and 2020 seventh rounders, while only receiving a 2020 sixth-round choice in return. But he saves precious dollars and is in a better position to re-sign Marner, so it was well worth it.

Dubas also has Andreas Johansson and Kasperi Kapanen retained on team-friendly deals. And finally, he got great value in forward Nicholas Robertson (drafted 53rd overall) and blueliner Mikko Kokkonen (84th overall). He saved cap space, re-signed key players, and stockpiled Toronto’s prospect pipeline. Toronto fans can’t be complaining about Dubas’ work on the west coast.

Loser: Ken Holland

The Edmonton Oilers undoubtedly needed to draft a blueliner, because they don’t have much to offer in the long run other than 2018 first round pick Evan Bouchard. But taking Swedish rearguard Philip Broberg with the No. 8 pick was quite a reach for general manager Ken Holland.

Like Yzerman and the Red Wings, Holland’s Oilers could have probably traded down and get the man they wanted later. Broberg is far from NHL-ready, and the Oilers needed a guy who could win now. Maybe Holland should have taken a forward that won’t require too much development time.

Getting big center Raphael Lavoie with the No. 38 pick was a coup, but taking goalie Ilya Konovalov in the third round was a questionable move. Again, Edmonton needs impact players that can make the jump soon. Konovalov is no guarantee to succeed in the NHL, and he’s going to need a few years of development.