Are Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs already regretting a major Trade Deadline trade?

In their 106-year history, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been on the good side of trades and the bad side of trades. John Kordic was traded to the Maple Leafs for Russ Courtnall, and while Courtnall carved a career playing 1029 games and recording 744 points, Kordic played 104 games for the Maple Leafs.

Tuukka Rask, Scott Niedermayer, Bernie Parent, and Darryl Sittler are four players since the 1967 expansion who have been traded and flourished after leaving the Blue and White, which brings us to 2023 and what Kyle Dubas has done by dealing Rasmus Sandin.

Sandin, drafted 29th overall in the 2018 NHL entry draft had a ton of potential after playing one season with Ontario Hockey Leagues Soo Greyhounds, and while one can look at the pick and feel that Dubas plucked a player he was familiar with from a team he helped construct, as a General Manager you have to be comfortable picking a player that you feel will help your team instead of just grabbing a player because you «know them».

Going into the 2022-2023 season, Sandin sat out training camp while demanding a contract that was similar to Timothy Liljegren and while eventually demands were met, Sandin should have understood that the writing was on the wall as he played a total of sixty-one games last season while sitting in the press box for many others. Truth be told, Sandin and Liljegren play a very similar style, and one had to go.


Fast forward to the trade deadline, Sandin was traded to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Erik Gustafsson and Boston's 2023 1st-round pick.

For Sandin's efforts since being traded to the Capitals who many feel may be in the process of a rebuild the Swedish defender has one goal to go along with seven assists in four games played. The two-point-per-game average probably won't continue but some Maple Leafs fans may be wondering if this is another classic case of a player beginning to flourish after leaving a situation that may be too stressful for certain individuals to play under.

Did the Maple Leafs make a major mistake? Only time will tell, but with the sample size the way it is today, it certainly looks that way.