TORONTO — General manager Kyle Dubas exhausted himself through the completion of his blockbuster trade so that his Toronto Maple Leafs could feel energized.
“Nobody from our management team left the building last night, from practice all the way through the end of the night. So, it was clear a lot was happening,” head coach Sheldon Keefe explained the morning after his GM’s home-run swing.
“I know Kyle well enough now. Because we communicate so much, I know that when he gets quiet …”
Big things happen.
Like the surrendering of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-round draft picks to rent two playoff-proven, defensive-minded centres (Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari) from the white-flag-waving St. Louis Blues, and taking the greatest gamble in the most critical — and, quite possibly, final — hurrah of the Dubas Era in Toronto.
“I would operate the same way regardless of what my status was,” said a visibly under-slept Dubas, who is without a contract for next season.
Overnight, the GM had taken another mortgage out on the future and doubled down on today.
It is risky.
It is thrilling.
It is, frankly, the only reasonable option if these Maple Leafs have any hope of equalling the forward depth of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins.
“I don’t think it’s sustainable for the very long run. But I think where we’re at right now, we have to do we have to do,” Dubas said of his pull from the cupboards.
“I don’t often like to part with first-round picks for players that aren’t under contract — and we’ve done it twice now [Nick Foligno, 2021]. I just felt that the team had earned it, and we have to put our team in the best position.
“And I’d rather have dealt the picks than deal from our reserve of prospects. Mostly because we know the prospects and what they’re about. We’re with them every day, and the picks are a little bit like the mystery box.”
The mystery now is twofold.
Where do O’Reilly and Acciari fit in the lineup? And what does Dubas do next?
Keefe found it difficult to sleep Friday night, he was so excited by his lineup possibilities, so enthused by his newfound depth in the middle ice.
Surely, he’ll experiment with O’Reilly at left wing on John Tavares’ line and at third-line centre, where the one-time Selke champ as the league’s top defensive forward will push David Kämpf to a more appropriate spot on the fourth line.
The head coach will get his first look on Saturday night (7 p.m. ET on Sportsnet) as both forwards are expected to play.
Keefe will also have Core Four insurance in case of injury. In other words, if Tavares or Auston Matthews (knock wood) cannot play when it matters, Alexander Kerfoot isn’t thrust into a second-line centre role.
“This is different,” Keefe said. “To have a guy that’s not only won the Stanley Cup, not only been the captain, not only won a Selke Trophy, but won what is, for me, the most prestigious and most difficult individual trophy to win, the (playoff MVP) Conn Smythe, that’s pretty special.”
Dubas is content with his forward group now and asserts that goalie Matt Murray (ankle) will be healthy come March.
Still, the GM says he will continue to explore ways to improve his roster, so you don’t have to squint between the lines to understand that an upgrade to the blue line could still be on the way.
By involving the Minnesota Wild in additional salary retention, O’Reilly and Acciari carry a combined cap hit of $3.125 million, giving Dubas some financial wiggle room. Plus, he could still send salary out.
He’ll catch his breath, maybe sneak in a nap, then get back to work. Only 13 days left before his final roster is due.
“It’s hard to say right now, because you get through these (trades), and everything goes quiet, and things start to pick up when people ask you, ‘What do you have left to do? What are you looking to do?’ If there’s a way we can improve, we’ll continue to look at that,” Dubas said.
The GM didn’t so much as broach the topic of an extension with the 32-year-old O’Reilly, who will become a coveted unrestricted free agent on July 1.
“You’d like people to live together before they get married,” Dubas said.
The front office, the players, the fans: they’re all hyped up in wait-and-see mode.
Very much engaged. But we’ve seen this organization’s feet get cold before.
While fantastic on paper, how smart is the on-ice fit here?
And is this blockbuster enough to turn Toronto into something grander than a regular-season powerhouse, considering the stiff competition come April?
The mountain (the Bruins are 41-8-5, while the Lightning have been to the last three Stanley Cup finals, winning twice) is a foreboding one. But at the very least, the Leafs have armed themselves with two legitimate climbers.
“If you’re trying to win, you’re trying to win the Stanley Cup. So there’s a lot of points along the way, and people will laugh at that, scoff at that. And that’s fine,” Dubas said.
“But, yeah, we’re trying to win. And that’s the message. Anything short of that, I think we’ll all be disappointed.”
