Report: How Dubas’ last minute deadline plan completely blew up in his face

To say that Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is feeling the heat this week is the understatement of the century. There are solar flares feeling less heat than Dubas these days.

After an embarrassing loss to a 42 year old Zamboni driver and a trade deadline in which Dubas effectively made no changes to his roster, Maple Leafs fans are up in arms with their team’s GM. The hashtag #FireDubas has been trending on Twitter in Canada all week. 

Well… this ain’t gonna help, Kyle…

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports that Dubas was essentially trying to snake an extra trade out of some teams in the final hour before the deadline, only to have his fellow GMs ignore him.

Check it out:

Finally, on Toronto: A few teams were wondering what was up when Dubas sent out a note 45 minutes before the deadline looking for a forward. They thought it was weird Dmytro Timashov would be lost on waivers and then the Maple Leafs would be trying to add. (Timashov had asked for a trade weeks ago, and may have asked to be placed on waivers as Sven Baertschi did this year.) Another GM, though, thought Dubas was slyly trying to snare an inexpensive forward at the last second from a team that suddenly had one too many.

Not a good look there, kid. Not good at all.

Oh… and then there’s the report from TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie, who says that Dubas was also shopping pending unrestricted free agent Tyson Barrie on the trade market in the hopes of recouping assets for the 28 year old blueliner. After all, Barrie is likely to leave the organization for nothing as a free agent this upcoming offseason. So… why didn’t Barrie get moved? In effect, Dubas blew it.

McKenzie reports that the Leafs did receive offers on Barrie, but no one was willing to meet Dubas’ high asking price of a 1st round pick and a top end prospect in exchange for the rental defenseman. In short: Dubas way overvalued Barrie and missed the market. Meanwhile, teams went after cheaper options like Sami Vatanen and Erik Gustafsson.

Check it out, straight from McKenzie himself:

“I don’t believe they were ever offered a 1st round pick or a good prospect… I think they were offered deals more along the lines of what Calgary paid for Gustafsson or what Carolina paid for Vatanen”

For the record, Gustafsson netted a 3rd round pick and Vatanen netted prospect Janne Kuokkanen and a 4th round pick. 

What are you taking? Barrie for a 1st and a prospect? Or either Gustafsson or Vatanen for considerably cheaper? Easy choice.

In any case, the move, or lack thereof, might actually be a smart one for Dubas and the Leafs considering their injuries to Morgan Rielly, Cody Ceci and now Jake Muzzin. Barrie is really the only veteran NHLer on a Leafs’ blue line that’s full of young guys like Rasmus Sandin, Timony Liljegren, Travis Dermott and Calle Rosen.