Report: Kyle Dubas reneged on trade at last moment

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue moving in a new direction after terminating now-former general manager Kyle Dubas in a move that's understandably generated plenty of reaction of varying degrees. 

And now, a new report has surfaced that Dubas had the chance to part ways with one member of the team at the NHL Trade Deadline that would have shed nearly $4 million in salary, but decided against it at the last minute.

According to Leafs reporter Joshua Kloke, the Leafs had a deal in place to send forward Alex Kerfoot to the St. Louis Blues as part of the deal that brought former 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O'Reilly along with Noel Acciari to the Leafs. Instead, Dubas decided to use his team's 4th round pick in the deal instead and keep Kerfoot around: 

Kloke wrote in The Athletic earlier today: 

"It’s been reported that instead of shipping Kerfoot out to St. Louis at the deadline to shed his $3.5-million AAV in the trade for Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, Dubas held on to Kerfoot and paid a fourth-round pick to the Wild to eat 50 percent of O’Reilly’s salary instead."

Additionally, there's this: