Oilers: Highlighting some key pieces of news from the past week
By Phil Gretzky
Kyle Dubas misses an opportunity with Zack Hyman
Zack Hyman was signed earlier today by the Oilers (more on that in my next blog) but Holland had spent some time earlier on trying to acquire the negotiating rights from the Leafs – probably by offering them one of the sixth round picks they had in the 2021 draft. However, Dubas refused and asked for a second-round pick in return for the neg rights to Hyman.
A second-round pick? Seriously? Dubas obviously was oblivious to the fact that Holland could just wait a week and sign him for nothing but money. No GM is stupid enough to trade away high picks just for the negotiating rights to a player, and Holland is no exception.
Obviously, like Stan Bowman in Chicago, Dubas doesn’t understand the concept of leverage. However, this time Holland didn’t enable the opposing GM’s obliviousness by balking at Dubas’s ask of a second-round pick and as expected signed Hyman as a free agent. Now Dubas lost Hyman anyway and gets nothing in return for him. Talk about poor asset management.
Expect Leaf’s fans and media to roast Dubas over the internet for that one, and deservedly so.