If the Leafs had managed to scrape together four wins in one playoff series at least a couple of times during this stretch, there’s be a lot more grace for Dubas. For my part, the playoff failure is about the only thing I have a problem with. He’s built a consistent playoff team, blew the franchise points record out of the water, rebuilt the defence corps into an actual effective unit, and has retained the best players and core of this team, even with the shitty frozen cap (that won’t unfreeze until it’s least convenient for us I’ll bet). I like the prospect pipeline he has built, which while getting pretty thin now, has us set up to add two potentially good and cheap top four talent on defence and scoring up front.
The goaltending is the most volatile position under his tenure, as Andersen with his injuries and poor play (and maybe quitting on the team) wasn’t the answer going forward and Jack became too expensive with too little track record to make it sensible to retain him. Neither guy however has shown to be capable of winning a playoff series, and while Murray and Samsonov are both gambles, both are capable of surprising us and the hockey world. The Leafs are also positioned to give each guy the best opportunity to fix their games with their top notch facilities, new goaltending department, and good defensive play on ice.
By all rights, this team should be viewed in the same way that Carolina is, a good young team knocking on the door to a potential championship with a lot of great years still ahead. Of course, the massive monkey on the back of this franchise and city, the 6 straight first round exits, makes that comparison a joke to most people. What matters is what happens in the playoffs, so despite all the regular season success and how well oiled a machine the franchise is off of it, no one gives a shit as long as “lol can’t win a playoff series” sits around our necks like a noose.
I do like the guy and think being GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs means people are more likely to want to fire him quicker than other markets (other Canadian GMs have had longer and worse runs, but going on a few fluky playoff runs is enough to protect them I guess). The circumstances surrounding him and the team mean he is on the hot seat.
