Ranking Dubas' worst transactions - #1

[ponder]

Tavares contract AINEC. For the majority of this deal he has been/will be at a level where he’s great on the PP but thoroughly mediocre at even strength. Far from being a stud 2C at even strength, he’s quite weak defensively, and lacks the skating to be consistently dangerous offensively or in transition. Keefe has to play him against soft opposition, and we have to prop him up with a winger who actually carries the line (Marner and Nylander are both WAY better at ES than JT).

$11 mil, 7 years, full NMC, for a guy at a position we were already strong at (already had Matthews/Kadri), who is really only strong on the PP, mediocre at ES - brutal move. I also think it directly lead to the Kadri trade (Naz was too good to be a 3C), and was a significant part of the Matthews/Marner overpays (they were clearly better than Tavares, his deal set the market).

Ppl saying “San Jose offered him more” is irrelevant - other teams make mistakes too. Should’ve just let SJ have the albatross contract.

 

[rocketman588]

I don’t believe that

Shanny was the mastermind yet our team is shaping up to look significantly different and it's built to be more fluid with 3 cohesive lines as opposed to how we've looked in the past

The Pens at the moment look exactly like we have in the past with 2 lines that are built to do nothing. He also overpaid Jarry, brought in some of "his guys" and is looking to make a splash like he did here with Karlsson.

The only move that shanny was even rumored to have made was blocking Dubas's dumbass Hagel and Fluery for every asset we have trade. If anything there's more confirmed info about Dubas trying to force Keefe into lineup decisions and playing in a specific way

Much like Babs,Lou, the refs, etc. Shanny was used as a straw man by some of the media who had depended on dubas for info. The biggest theme of the dubas era was that everything that went wrong was everyone else's fault but his

 

[rocketman588]

If the AAV and term weren't enough to be mad at, how can you not be a little peeved by the NMCs Dubas handed out to all these guys.

Completely screwed us once the contracts ended, like they now are.

I kind of wished we had just dealt Matthews and Nylander, even though I love them both, when they didn't sign before their clauses kicked in. It's disgusting how much power our players have over the team.

It's a Lebron "LeGM" situation but without the same level of players.

2 years of a Marner NMC is a joke after paying him that amount of money

 

[notDatsyuk]

View attachment 730218​

Wear a smile for an umbrella,
Greet each day with a song,
And you'll drown while singing
When the rains come along.

 

[notDatsyuk]

It's got to be the Marner contract.

Tavares, every GM will take it. People are using hindsight to call it his worst move. If we're sitting here with multiple Cups, no one's complaining. Heck, if you told us Tavares would still be an 80 point player at this point, people would take it also.

Marner was bad the moment he signed. Rantanen signed for 1.7M less a week after Marner despite better stats and I believe the Marner contract actually inflated Rantanen's.

If we had signed Komarov instead of Tavares and were sitting here with multiple Cups, no one would be complaining.

Matthews only got as much as he did because he was set to be the #1C and already a better player than JT. Marner only got as much as he did because he was top line and already a better player than JT.

 

[notDatsyuk]

True, but we were the only team willing to give him that 3rd year (sorry, I don’t have a source to confirm this), and that bit us in the ass!

He may not have been much use in the third season (like Simmonds and others), but without the Tavares signing we wouldn't have had to give away a first to get rid of him.

(Lou managed to get rid of the last year of Komarov's contract at absolutely no cost, not even cap.)

 

[WillyC]

It’s not Tavares… just my opinion though, everyone, Shanny, Dubas, and the board were all enamoured with the thought of JT coming home to start his family, become Captain and promote hometown Toronto Maple Leafs hockey… everyone likely thought Toronto would be a contender to win the Stanley Cup too.

The problem was giving Mitch and Auston their massive contracts before they had put in enough time as NHL players… Tavares was the highest touted UFA in years… every GM brings the hometown Tavares home on that deal.

Just look at the Montreal series… how does any team not win a 7 game series after watching your Captain go down game one in such devastating fashion?

Yeah, they lost games 5, 6 and 7… Dubas should have changed things after that.

 

[Shanwhatplan]

He may not have been much use in the third season (like Simmonds and others), but without the Tavares signing we wouldn't have had to give away a first to get rid of him.

(Lou managed to get rid of the last year of Komarov's contract at absolutely no cost, not even cap.)

Yup, I was against the Tavares signing right from the start. We were not ready to do that. It derailed the rebuild entirely!

 

[mikeyz]

who cares move on

It's hard to move on when you consider how bad he was and how we'll feel the rippling effects for years to come at that said bad job he did.

 

[The Masters]

It's hard to move on when you consider how bad he was and how we'll feel the rippling effects for years to come at that said bad job he did.

I know but best for everyone to move forward and look at the positives now with Tre. We already spent weeks upon weeks discussing his mess after we fired him

 

[1specter]

Anyone with cap space would've signed Tavares, so saying that was his worst move is pretty dumb. It's hilarious too because when he signed Tavares people wouldn't give him credit for it as a good move cause 'Tavares would've signed here anyways' if it was Lou or another GM. So which one is it then?

Marner negotiation was done poorly and the Kadri trade was also horrendous IMO. He really misjudged Tyson Barrie as a fit for this team. Foligno trade was also terrible, gave a first rounder for a dude who was clearly compromised.

 

[HoweHullOrr]

You can't blame Dubas for Tavares. No one would give up getting an eliet #1C for free, and at a discount. Y

I'm surprised anyone still says this ("for free"). Cap space is a really important real asset. There were so many repercussions in terms of other player's contract, players moved, etc. because of the Tavares signing. You have to serious blinders on and an extreme level of unawareness to be still typing that feeble line of thinking.

 

[francis246]

If we had signed Komarov instead of Tavares and were sitting here with multiple Cups, no one would be complaining.

Matthews only got as much as he did because he was set to be the #1C and already a better player than JT. Marner only got as much as he did because he was top line and already a better player than JT.

I disagree, I think Matthews would have still f***ed the leafs. Every decision in his career has been money driven. He chose to play in Switzerland to make money instead of going to college or major junior. It wouldn’t have mattered whether we signed Tavares or not. The moment Jack Eichel signed for 10 mill you knew both Marner and Matthews were also signing for 10 or more. Both felt they were better than Eichel and statistically they were.

Maybe you get Matthews at 10.34 and Marner at a flat 10. But I don’t think the Tavares contract had as big of an impact as people make it seem. The Eichel extension most likely impacted things way more.

 

[socko]

I voted Marner. It was clearly an egregious overpay and is symbolic of a culture on the team and Dubas' philosophy on management of leaning too heavily on top heavy, soft skilled players without a balanced lineup.

I get the argument for JT but have to disagree. JT has produced at a good pace, it may have been the wrong direction for the team but he's still a good player. And just because he got $X didn't mean Dubas' had to cave to on other deals.

To be fair from a hockey trade point of view probably the worst deals were Murray, Foligno, Marchment. They bled us out on talent or cap space for literally nothing.

Marner was the worst from a league wide perspective, not just a Leafs perspective. That contract blew up what a small playmaking winger coming off his ELC could make by at least $2 million dollars. It was so absurd, the rest of the league ignored it.

Tavares is like paying Dave Andreychuk in the same neighborhood as the leagues elite players. He may put up numbers. But he can't skate for sh*t and has no physical game or passion, that's not something a good team does.

 

[Canadian Finn]

Marner was the worst from a league wide perspective, not just a Leafs perspective. That contract blew up what a small playmaking winger coming off his ELC could make by at least $2 million dollars. It was so absurd, the rest of the league ignored it.

Tavares is like paying Dave Andreychuk in the same neighborhood as the leagues elite players. He may put up numbers. But he can't skate for sh*t and has no physical game or passion, that's not something a good team does.

That's a good comparison.

Dave Andreychuk was fantastic in NHLPA '93 for Sega Genesis.

I can see how Dubas got confused.

 

[Smif]

That Foligno trade man, wow. Especially what Bennett and Hall went for (no, this isn't hindsight, I wanted Bennett and there's always a Hall-like trade at the end of the deadline).

 

[AcerComputer]

For the record, I didn't mind Dubas during his tenure here, and I thought it was the right move to give him a shot over Lou.

Unfortunately, we stagnated, and in hindsight, his overall impact was not great. I don't think we will look back on his tenure as being anything special either way.

I am very glad to have moved on, especially seeing those Jarry and Graves contracts. 10m on a weak 1B and a 3rd pairing dman.

Coincidently so did the cap.

 

[Magic Man]

At least our hometown hero JT took the max term he was offered by the Leafs and he didn't dick them around on term like Matthews and Marner and Nylander.

 

[notDatsyuk]

I disagree, I think Matthews would have still f***ed the leafs. Every decision in his career has been money driven. He chose to play in Switzerland to make money instead of going to college or major junior. It wouldn’t have mattered whether we signed Tavares or not. The moment Jack Eichel signed for 10 mill you knew both Marner and Matthews were also signing for 10 or more. Both felt they were better than Eichel and statistically they were.

Maybe you get Matthews at 10.34 and Marner at a flat 10. But I don’t think the Tavares contract had as big of an impact as people make it seem. The Eichel extension most likely impacted things way more.

Good point, although I think it would have been easier for Dubas to keep the cost down if the closest comparable was 10 for a 1C on another team instead of 11 for a 2C on their own.

The year before Eichel signed, he had 57 points in 61 games, while Tavares had 66 points in 77 games.

 

[notDatsyuk]

At least our hometown hero JT took the max term he was offered by the Leafs and he didn't dick them around on term like Matthews and Marner and Nylander.

At his age he probably knew it was his last chance to collect big.

If he had signed for 5 years, he'd be lucky to get $5 or $6 on his next.