Just two Dubas-era draft picks expected to be on Leafs roster
Kyle Dubas may no longer manage the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he’s left his mark on the organization.
Serving as the team’s general manager from May 11, 2018, to May 18, 2023, Dubas was in charge of hockey’s most valuable franchise for just over half a decade.
And despite signing some of the team’s biggest contracts in history and making some franchise-altering trades, Dubas, perhaps surprisingly, didn’t make that much of a splash on this current roster via the draft.
For the purposes of this exercise, we’re only considering players taken from 2018-2022, the five drafts that Dubas was in full control of. While he helped to varying degrees with other drafts from 2014-2017, given that he wasn’t the actual general manager, it feels odd to credit or fault him for those drafts.
As per DailyFaceoff’s roster projection for this season, just two players selected by Dubas during his time as Leafs GM will be on the roster to begin this upcoming season. They are 2021 second-round pick Matthew Knies and 2018 sixth-round pick Pontus Holmberg.
Of the other players taken under Dubas, Fraser Minten seems the most likely to also make the NHL jump this year. Minten played four games with the Leafs last season before being returned to the WHL for the rest of the campaign.
Two other Dubas draft picks in Sean Durzi and Rasmus Sandin have both become NHL regulars, currently under contract with Utah and Washington, respectively.
Another Dubas draft pick, 2019 second-round selection Nick Robertson, is also in trouble. Though he’s been in and out of the Leafs’ lineup over the past few seasons, Robertson remains unsigned as of today and is currently a restricted free agent. Robertson was reported to request a trade back in June, though nothing has come to fruition. He has played 87 games in the NHL since being taken four years ago, putting up 17 goals and 17 assists.
And then there’s also the sombre reality of the passing of Rodion Amirov, Toronto’s 2020 first-round selection, who succumbed to brain cancer in 2023.
While there’s still hope for a few more later-round picks from Dubas, it doesn’t seem like many of his draft picks will ultimately have much of an impact in Toronto.
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