Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas Explains Big Trade with Blues to Grab Rental Players Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari
Dubas #Dubas
The Toronto Maple Leafs GM says he would have made the big swing to help his team regardless of the fact that the boss in the final year of his contract.
Kyle Dubas took a swing for the fences last Friday when he acquired St. Louis Blues forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari. Despite giving up many draft picks to do it, he insisted that he would have done this even if he had more job security.
“I understand that’s a topic, but as I’ve discussed before, I would operate the same way regardless of what my status was. Just doing what is right for the organization and the teams.”
The Maple Leafs acquired some short-term help in Ryan O’Reilly, a Stanley Cup champion with the Blues in 2019 and a former Selke Trophy winner, and Acciari, a depth piece that should help solidify Toronto’s bottom-six forward group.
But it came at a cost.
Toronto surrendered their first-round pick in 2023, a second-round pick in 2024, Ottawa’s third-round pick in 2023 that they acquired last summer, and a fourth-round pick in 2025 that went to the Minnesota Wild to help broker the deal to keep O’Reilly salary cap charge down.
They lost prospect forward Mikhail Abramov and forward Adam Gaudette, but kept all of their top prospects.
Despite only having a fifth and sixth-round pick at the 2023 NHL Draft, Dubas’ priority was keeping the prospects they know rather than the potential prospects they don’t.
“I’d be lying to sit up here and say that isn’t a concern of mine,” Dubas admitted about the lack of picks going forward. “I was just more comfortable moving the picks than I was moving the people we know and got a deeper insight into their potential.
Dubas also referred to draft picks as a mystery box against the picks they already have signed.
Extension talks with either O’Reilly or Acciari
Dubas said he hadn’t started that process and he won’t ask he would like the players to arrive and see if they are a fit for the club going forward and vice versa.
“I think you want to see how a player fits in with where you’re at, whether they like it here and whether it’s the right fit,” Dubas said. The way I look at is I’d like the people to live together a bit before they get married a little bit rather than take that step without it.”
Last year, the Maple Leafs acquired veteran defenseman Mark Giordano one day before the trade deadline. He ultimately signed a two-year, $1.6 million contract once the season was over.
Is Dubas done dealing?
“We’re always looking to improve the team,” Dubas said. “It’s hard to say right now get through one of these and everything goes quiet but then things start to pick up and people start to ask you what you have left to do?
The Maple Leafs have some room to work with now that goaltender Matt Murray is on long-term injured reserve. Dubas confirmed that Murray will be out until at least Feb. 28, In the meantime, they have approximately $4 million to work in extra cap room.
Last week, Dubas said he’d like to improve the team defensively as well. Well not specifically calling out a defenseman as a need, there is some room to add some depth.