Although it is the final year of his contract as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kyle Dubas does not feel any pressure to take any big swings.
Kyle Dubas refuses to let his status beyond this season dictate any changes he makes between now and the NHL trade deadline on Mar. 3.
"As I said at the beginning of the year, it is not about me and my status. It is about what is best for the team," the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager said on Thursday. "That is what we will continue to look at. I am not treating it any differently than any other day."
Dubas is in the final year of his original five-year contract as GM of the Maple Leafs. Much of his future in the position hangs on the team's short-term future.
By all accounts, Dubas has excelled in terms of assembling one of the top teams in the NHL. Their regular season success is undeniable. Since taking the role, Dubas has a record of 202-101-29, the fifth-best of any NHL team since the 2018-19 season. But playoff success has eluded the team, failing to get past the opening round.
Despite an urgency to deliver this spring, Dubas isn't necessarily planning on landing any of the big fish at free agency. Or at least if he does, he's not showing his hand.
"The focus is always on the bigger names, but we have to look at the people who may improve us overall," Dubas said.
In his lengthy availability with the media, Dubas said he will look to add to their group at both forward and defense, but he seemed satisfied with the team's current goaltending depth. And that includes the oft-injured Matt Murray, who is on injured reserve (ankle) for the second time this season.
"Whatever way we can improve the team, we would like to do that with the exception of our goaltending," Dubas said. Up front and on defense, if there is a way we can improve the team and give ourselves a better chance to make a run at it, we will do that."
Looking at Dubas' track record, it's clear he is reluctant to give up a first-round pick for a 'rental' player. i.e. a player who is on an expiring contract. In the past, any first-round pick involved in a deal was attached with at least an additional year in term
Dubas surrendered his first-round pick in 2019 when he acquired Jake Muzzin on Jan. 28, 2019, from the Los Angeles Kings for Toronto's first-round pick in 2019, forward Carl Grundstrom and defenseman Sean Durzi.
The only time Dubas relented was in 2021 when he surrendered the first-round draft pick as part of a package to land Nick Foligno, who was a pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
Foligno ran into injury issues during his short run with the Leafs and the gamble didn't pay off. The following season, the Leafs held onto their first-rounder by trading their 2022 and 2023 second-round picks to the Seattle Kraken for Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell.
The 39-year-old Giordano re-upped with the Leafs for two years at a total of $1.6 million at the end of the season.
The Leafs have young prospects, including forward Matthew Knies, who could sign with the club when his season with the University of Minnesota expires next month.
Dubas didn't come out saying he is untouchable, but noted it would take a lot to move the Arizona native.
"With every single trade discussion that we have, we are at the point with the franchise where you don’t want to necessarily say no to anything right off of the hop," Dubas explained. "Having said that, there are some players and some draft capital that we have that are extremely valuable and would be hard for us to move on from.
"In regards to rentals, I can’t see that happening. With regards to other options, I don’t think you say no off the hop to anything, but those are very important pieces to us now and in the future."
There are a lot of different ways this can go, but the one thing that remains clear is that the GM will not act any different just because he is the final year of his deal. He won't go for broke, but it doesn't sound like he will stand pat either.
But with very little cap room to deal with, he'll have to be creative.