This is how it works sometimes in sports. You shop for one thing, you find something else. The Leafs knew they were going to be picking early in the 2015 NHL entry draft. They just didn’t know how early when they heavily scouted the University of Michigan’s Werenski at a January tournament.
They came away impressed with Werenski. But they couldn’t stop thinking about Dylan Larkin’s winger on Michigan’s first line.
Ten days before they wound up passing on Werenski and Noah Hanifin to select Mitch Marner with the fourth pick in the draft, Kyle Dubas, then acting general manager after the firing of Dave Nonis, phoned Florida GM Dale Tallon just to check in.
Tallon told him he had a player he couldn’t sign. Dubas’ ears perked up when he heard it was Hyman. A deal was made that day. A deal barely anyone paid attention to at the time.
Hyman was no overnight sensation. He had been drafted late by the Panthers in 2010. He played four years at Michigan, two of them not fitting in at all, then starring in his senior year. When it came time for him to leave Michigan and sign his NHL contract — he had already sent Tallon an autographed book of his, referring to the Panthers as family — no deal could be made.
“He wanted to play an NHL game that season,” Tallon said from Florida, no longer the Panthers GM. “We were fighting for a playoff spot. We couldn’t afford to make that kind of deal and promise him that. It wouldn’t have been fair to our team.
“So we didn’t sign him and, really, only one team offered us anything for him.”
That was Dubas, who was already familiar with Hyman. In his brief time as a player agent, Hyman happened to be one of his clients. “At the time, we were in the mode of trying to collect as many prospects as possible. That was our mindset as an organization,” said Dubas, looking back. “We thought he could help us.”
They had no idea how much he would help them. It took Hyman almost a full minor-league season to be ready to play for the Leafs. He hasn’t stopped being ready since. In those 10 days in 2015, the Leafs ended up with two-thirds of their top line.
As for the player Dubas traded away to get Hyman — Greg McKegg — he has kicked around as a spare part with six NHL teams since leaving the Leafs. He once scored as many as six goals in a season.
In Hyman’s last 82 games with the Leafs, the soon-to-be free agent, now playing with Marner and Auston Matthews, has scored a rather remarkable 32 goals.
THIS AND THAT
Up next for Dubas, post trade deadline, finding a way to keep Hyman. That will be an economic challenge … When Dave Morrison headed up the Leafs amateur scouting, he drafted Carter Verhaeghe from the Niagara Ice Dogs. When he was moved to pro scouting, he recommended the Leafs consider Verhaeghe as a free agent (Lou Lamoriello traded him away in 2015). Dubas had some interest this off-season. He wanted lower-end free agents in the $700,000 range. Verhaeghe asked for $1 million. He wound up signing in Florida for $900,000. Verhaeghe, a Toronto kid, now leads the Panthers in goals with 17 and is third in points behind Jonathan Huberdeau and Sasha Barkov … Yell at me all you want, stats people, but I don’t think the Leafs second line of John Tavares, William Nylander and, for now, Alex Galchenyuk is good enough to be a playoff difference-maker. Opponents are going to check the heck out of Matthews-Marner and Hyman. The opportunity will be there for the Tavares line to do some damage. But most nights, no damage … Galchenyuk has no goals in seven games with the Leafs … Joe Thornton, who had success early, has no goals in the past 17 games. Wayne Simmonds has no goals since returning from injury … Tavares has two goals in the past 11 games, one assist in the past seven. And the Leafs are still getting by. At the trade deadline, the Leafs need a second-line left winger who can create space for Tavares, and some additional depth forwards … The reason they’re getting by, Jack Campbell. The question on Campbell isn’t whether or not he can play. He’s answered that. The question is: can he play four games in seven nights in a playoff series and remain healthy? If he can, he gives the Leafs the best goaltending opportunity they’ve had in years.
HEAR AND THERE
Somewhere I can hear Scotty Bowman muttering: nothing for nothing. In the past 18 games, Patrik Laine has scored one goal for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Pierre Luc Dubois, traded to Winnipeg for Laine, has scored three for the Jets … The state of the Vancouver Canucks with COVID-19 is so serious that the NHL might have to consider shortening their season … I hate that the NFL is going to a 17-game season. Never mind that it screws up fantasy football leagues. Never mind that it messes with the record books. What it does is make a dangerous game all the more dangerous for its players … Stop the presses: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred did something right, pulling the all-star game from Atlanta … I know it was a year and a half ago when Bianca Andreescu won the U.S. Open but shouldn’t tennis commentators on television know how to pronounce her last name by now? … Just a thought, but if I was making a television commercial for financial planning and wanted TJ Brodie to be the subject of it, wouldn’t you ask him to put in his teeth? … Liked Sheldon Keefe’s description of Brodie as a player. The Leafs coach called him refined. Earlier, I called him subtle. I like Keefe’s word better … Stanley Cup winner Jon Cooper should offer off-season tutorials to NHL coaches on how to conduct interviews, especially on radio. No one is better at it or more at ease than the Tampa Bay coach … A group of former Alouettes players are trying to get coach Marv Levy into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. That’s nice. Levy spent five years in the CFL. You know what would be really nice? If voters found a way to get Leo Cahill in the Hall. He spent 17 years coaching, managing, building and broadcasting in the league. Long before Levy gets any attention, Cahill’s case should be addressed … And I’ll ask again, for the 25th time, his number, why isn’t the late Dick Thornton in the Hall? How do voters explain this injustice?
SCENE AND HEARD
George Springer had soft tissue injuries prior to signing with the Blue Jays. If you look at his history, he has only played more than 140 games once in seven big-league seasons. He missed 84 games in the three seasons between 2017 and 2019. Yes, the Blue Jays can’t wait to get him at the top of their lineup. But expecting a full season from Springer is probably expecting something close to impossible … GM Ross Atkins struggles with tough questions. I asked what his favourite opening day was? He never did answer. I promise the questions will get easier from here on in … The best part of a new baseball season: The daily companion. It’s like getting back together with an old friend. Especially when you’re home during a pandemic. It’s like Dan Shulman and Buck Martinez are visiting for the afternoon. It’s comforting that way … There had to be more than a smile on Atkins’ face when Julian Merryweather struck out all three batters he faced at the 10th inning at Yankee Stadium on opening day. Merryweather was drafted by Atkins in Cleveland and was the player to be be named later in the Josh Donaldson giveaway of three seasons back … Little wonder Charlie Montoyo is popular with his players. Before the season began, the Blue Jays manager asked a number of his players to fill out a lineup card, as if they were managing. Made his players feel like they’re part of the process.
AND ANOTHER THING
I’ve been watching the Raptors since Alvin Robertson hit the first bucket at SkyDome in 1995. This is the hardest season I can remember about this team … Not running the 4 X 100 this summer in Tokyo with Andre De Grasse: Jeff O’Neill … The bet here, post slump and injury, is that Matthews will finish with 35 goals this shortened season. That’s a 50-goal equivalency. He’s currently scoring at 58-goal pace, having missed three games. The thought by some that he could score 50 this season was silly … Left shot defenceman Darnell Nurse has pushed Morgan Rielly further back on the list of Canadian Olympic hockey hopefuls, assuming that NHL players will in fact be going to the Olympics. Rielly may get chosen for the roster but won’t crack the top six on defence … Nick Robertson’s brother, Jason, is having an impressive rookie season with the Dallas Stars, with 23 points in 29 games. Pretty amazing that two brothers from Pasadena — sounds like a Beach Boys’ song — have gotten this far in hockey. And neither are close to being what they’re going to be … If the first round of the North Division playoffs has Toronto against Montreal and Winnipeg against Edmonton, sign me up right now, I’m in. The last time the Leafs played the Habs was 1979. The last time the Oilers played the Jets was 1990 … One power-play issue rarely discussed regarding the Leafs: they don’t have a guy with a big slap shot from the point. It means penalty killers can collapse more towards the net. They were hoping free agent Mikko Lehtonen would be that player … Born this date: Pat Burns and Jim Fregosi. Happy birthday to Bernie Parent (76), Roberto Luongo (42), Kevin Weekes (46), Brian Leetch (53), Colton Orr (39), Al Secord (63), Karen Magnussen (69), Yanic Perreault (50), Eddie Murphy (60) and Scott Rolen (46) … And, hey, whatever became of Reed Johnson?
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2021-04-04 12:06:31Z
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