Now a couple of years removed from his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] organization, the Pittsburgh Penguins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/pittsburgh-penguins] President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/a-strong-push-for-me-to-stay-ex-maple-leafs-gm-kyle-dubas-says-lou-lamoriello-played-key-role-in-keeping-him-in-toronto-back-in-2017] was in a reflective mood as a guest on the Cam & Strick Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-cam-strick-podcast/id1481543060] with hosts Cam Janssen and Andy Strickland. The hosts spoke to Dubas for about 45 minutes, where they touched on every aspect of his hockey career. At the very end of the conversation, Dubas was asked if he had any regrets from his five years as Toronto's GM. His response was direct: “I have lots of regrets that I know you're not supposed to look back on them. But the biggest one by far, by far, is actually it's Mason Marchment,” Dubas said, before detailing the player’s tenure with the organization. "He had come in and signed an American League contract. He went to the ECHL but didn't play because he needed to build up his strength and skating. And so we had this specific program that he didn't complain about. He executed and went to Orlando in the ECHL and made his way up to the Marlies, was a huge part of the team with the Marlies that won. He was on the fourth line, actually, with Trevor Moore, who's in LA now. And he made his NHL debut, it was an awesome moment. After years of work in the minors," he made his NHL debut in the 2019-20 season, his fifth year with the organization." Dubas then went into the process of eventually dealing Mason Marchment [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/projecting-sabres-trade-cost---mason-marchment] to the Florida Panthers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers] in exchange for forward Denis Malgin [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/andres-ambuhl-denis-malgin-kevin-fiala-janis-moser-after-another-swiss-silver-medal]. “He had some injury trouble, kind of been in and out. And we found our lack of scoring, there was a big push internally to acquire some skill. And so, there was a younger player that had a longer NHL pedigree in Florida, Denis Malgin and (Florida GM) Dale (Tallon) had been pushing for more and came back and said we do a straight-up for Marchment. After lots of thinking about it, it felt like months of thinking about it. That was a decision that I had made. And Mason just was so competitive and talented and had gone through our program for all that time. And so that's that's the one that really more than any others by far,” Dubas explained. Florida won that trade by a landslide, as Marchment went on to become an everyday NHL player over the last five years. He had 22 goals and 25 assists in 62 games with the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars] last season, and the Maple Leafs, now led by Brad Treliving [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/maple-leafs-gm-brad-treliving-cameos-in-daughter-s-tiktok-while-juggling-offseason-duties], were reportedly interested in trying to get the player back. The Stars ended up dealing Marchment to the Seattle Kraken for a third and fourth-round draft pick [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/possible-maple-leafs-trade-target-gone-as-kraken-land-former-prospect-mason-marchment] this summer. Meanwhile, Malgin has spent the last two seasons playing for the Zurich Lions in the Swiss League. Strickland responded by saying, “like take penalties in the playoffs every year,” as a nod to the deal that sent Nazem Kadri [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils/latest-news/rumor-nazem-kadri-trade-rumors-link-him-to-devils---but-does-it-make-sense] to the Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche] in exchange for defenseman Tyson Barrie [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/players/flames-nearing-pto-with-former-nashville-predator-tyson-barrie-could-play-big-role] and forward Alexander Kerfoot [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/utah/community/latest-news/kerfoot-s-year-in-review]. Dubas, however, would not bite, instead returning to the Marchment deal. “I just think that one always kind of eats away and informs a lot of what we try to do since,” Dubas concluded.
