Kyle Dubas Gave up Promising Trade Offer to Retain Roster Player

Just recently, it was revealed that Dubas rejected a potential trade offer that could've changed the landscape of the entire team.

The Maple Leafs made a significant move during this year's trade deadline, acquiring Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Accari from the St. Louis Blues. However, there was another potential addition that almost materialized.

Although Toronto gave up multiple assets, including several draft picks (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th round), Adam Gaudette, and Mikhail Abramov, they came close to another transaction. Initially, the 4th-round pick was traded to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for salary retention on O'Reilly's contract. Nevertheless, an alternative scenario was considered by the Maple Leafs.

Toronto could've gone a completely different route which would've saved them another draft pick by including Alexander Kerfoot in the deal, Kerfoot was worth 3.5$ million so he could've acted as an equalizer to the salaries. This could have created some much needed cap space for Toronto to help with O'Reilly's contract but they ultimately decided against including Kerfoot in the deal.

It seems that Dubas was the main reason Kerfoot remained with the Leafs. It would've made complete sense to trade Kerfoot with a player who could produce more results and strengthen the team but for some unclear reasons, both Keefe and Dubas wanted to keep Kerfoot.

As Read on HockeyPatrol - Report: Kyle Dubas Chose to Keep Roster Player Despite Trade Offer Prior to Deadline