Athletic: Dubas Job on the Line this Season (contract expiring after this season)

[Stephen]

Losing guys like Muzzin and Murray to injury 5 days could be considered “bad luck” but not so much when the Leafs have couched their decisions on these guys as making bets on highly worn down players.

 

[cupcrazyman2]

I predict Dubas & Keefe will be fired by Christmas.

 

[justashadowof]

Losing guys like Muzzin and Murray to injury 5 days could be considered “bad luck” but not so much when the Leafs have couched their decisions on these guys as making bets on highly worn down players.

The haste of the injuries may be bad luck but the inevitability of both injuries were always at least even odds.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I've never been a fan of Dubas as a GM from Day 1, but as a person from the human element side, he's top notch. As odd as it sounds, I'd like to see him let go, but also am leery in doing so not knowing who would/could be brought in.

All that being said, he has really boxed himself into a corner here, and the walls must feel like they're caving in on him. Bad choices/decisions, and little room to wiggle out of it, has certainly put the spotlight on him.

 

[killer1980]

Leafs miss the playoffs. Dubas gets a 5 year extension. You heard it here first.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

I am going to be petty here, but I still am so annoyed we took another skilled winger in 2020 over two giant, smooth skating RD.

Imagine if we could slot Schnieder or Guhle into our line up this year?

 

[allfornothing]

I've never been a fan of Dubas as a GM from Day 1, but as a person from the human element side, he's top notch. As odd as it sounds, I'd like to see him let go, but also am leery in doing so not knowing who would/could be brought in.

All that being said, he has really boxed himself into a corner here, and the walls must feel like they're caving in on him. Bad choices/decisions, and little room to wiggle out of it, has certainly put the spotlight on him.

Unfortunately Dubas has put this team so extremely tight against the cap it will have to be somewhat deconstructed before any significant pieces can be swapped out. The looming Matthews contract isn’t helping the team.

 

[Ports]

we have 2 top 4 D (Reilly/Brodie) , i don't see Muzzin/Gio being able to play top 4 mins effectively for any length of time and we'll have to wait and see if Sandin and/or Lilly can make the jump

Are either Reilly or Brodie on a top pair on a cup contender though ? Not for me. Brodie has a great stick and Reilly can skate but neither has the ability to defend against the other teams top lines. Reilly never touches on an opponent in front of the Leafs net. He just stands around and fishes for the puck.

 

[supermann_98]

Leafs miss the playoffs. Dubas gets a 5 year extension. You heard it here first.

Not if they miss the playoffs. A first round exit, yeah I could see a 5 year extension. All 5 years of that extension if they’re out in the first round you’ll have posters on here still defending him to their graves tho

 

[DarkKnight]

My early observations of this group, and this isn't positive.

1. They look slower than last year
2. They're much softer than last year, both up front and on the back with the loss of Loobs.

I honestly don't see this roster as better than last years.

Slower AND softer, doesn’t sound like progress.

We do look slower, losing a thoroughbred like Mik didn’t help either. What is our identity right now? I don’t get it.

 

[hotpaws]

Are either Reilly or Brodie on a top pair on a cup contender though ? Not for me. Brodie has a great stick and Reilly can skate but neither has the ability to defend against the other teams top lines. Reilly never touches on an opponent in front of the Leafs net. He just stands around and fishes for the puck.

Brodie might be even less physical than Mo but Rielly could be very effective on the top pair if he had a partner like Tanev ,

but i do agree neither of them are high end all around D , then again there aren't many of them

 

[Ports]

Dunno how anyone can think 11 mil on Tavares is bad when so many teams including us have more than 11 mil tied up in garbage we want to free up. Guys been our best player and opened up the ice for Nylanders skillset to feast. Well worth the penalty cost to get him via cheating (once in lifetime Ufa)

Also reminder this team chose to give up Kadri as 3C we werent forced by the cap to give it up. There was nothing holding us back from keeping a team 3 centers deep even with 2 making 11 mil. We could have kept Kadri as 3C at his new cap hit too since the quality of depth they seem to like can be had for 1 mil or less so the remaining spots are easy to fill.

They never should have signed a 2C for $11M when they really needed a 1D. Tavares was never going to be the best forward on the team and made Marner and Matthews contracts more expensive. They should have kept Kadri and used the extra $6.5M to strengthen their defense and goaltending. Now they are a team giving 58% of their salary cap to five players who’ve never won a playoff round. Great team building by Dubas.

 

[Amadeus]

Slower AND softer, doesn’t sound like progress.

We’d do look slower, losing a thoroughbred like Mik didn’t help either. What is our identity right now? I don’t get it.

Identity is that of a team that's been used and abused with management hoping that an animal wakes up inside them when they make the playoffs.

 

[Stephen]

I've never been a fan of Dubas as a GM from Day 1, but as a person from the human element side, he's top notch. As odd as it sounds, I'd like to see him let go, but also am leery in doing so not knowing who would/could be brought in.

All that being said, he has really boxed himself into a corner here, and the walls must feel like they're caving in on him. Bad choices/decisions, and little room to wiggle out of it, has certainly put the spotlight on him.

I think the Good Guy, do right by players GM angle actually puts Dubas into a corner and makes it harder for him to be ruthless when required. I don’t know if Bobby Webster and Masai Ujiri are friends with players but you know they’ll make the hate choices when needed.

 

[kevsh]

This is the same team as last year.

Same GM.
Same Coach.
Same "Plan".
Same Result.

In all his years coaching Engvall in the AHL and now here Keefe still hasn't convinced the big guy to use his size.

I see Nylander throwing hits with a Sweden jersey on but for the team that pays him $7M/year he averages 0.25 hits per game.

How can a coach command respect from the room when other players see what I just pointed out above? Sure Keefe coached them to the best regular season last year so he's not exactly incompetent, but by now it's clear: He's not the guy.

The bottom 6 looked marginally better on paper than last year but so far all we've seen is bad penalties.

Dubas ties up $4.5M in cap space for two years on a goalie that can't stay healthy, when every (literally) dollar counts. Robertson is sent down primarily for cap reasons, not hockey reasons.

Yet he and Keefe both still have jobs.

Unless Keefe has lost the room they will play better soon and get back to their winning ways, probably saving both of them until the end of the season. Just remember ..

Same team as last year, and the year before and the year before that. Most of us saw it in the Summer when the team decided to basically just rinse and repeat the failed approach of the past 6 years.

Anyone thinking this post-season is going to have a better result than the last 6, I can only say I admire your optimism. I'd argue bordering on delusional, but hey some of us have to keep the faith.

/rant of the week. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Don't let the door hit you.

 

[Dreakmur]

They never should have signed a 2C for $11M when they really needed a 1D. Tavares was never going to be the best forward on the team and made Marner and Matthews contracts more expensive. They should have kept Kadri and used the extra $6.5M to strengthen their defense and goaltending. Now they are a team giving 58% of their salary cap to five players who’ve never won a playoff round. Great team building by Dubas.

Yeah, that Tavares signing was the beginning of the end. I don't even think that contract in a vacuum is that bad, but we a premium for a luxury piece.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

HF Leaf Fans Emergency Meeting - Fan Morale Super Topic

Ok so from what I can see so far by the fan/ media reactions after 4 games is this:
1. It takes very little for TOR fans to feel optimistic about the season ahead: a close win, a good performance by Samsonov, skilled goals/plays by Nylander, etc.

2. Conversely it takes very little for TOR fans to feel negative about this team and the season ahead: Murray's early LTIR, Ritchie scoring against his old team, questionable coaching, overpaid "elite" players not in tune for the season, etc.

This season is going to be the biggest roller coaster ride of emotional swings you'll ever see.

I don't always look to Dubas'/Keefe for these issues. I like to look at Shanahan. I can't believe he's allowed Dubas to construct a team that looks like this when he knows damn well what a winning team looks like. I'm not even talking about fighting either. Keefe said it himself: (paraphrasing) If the elite players aren't effective the team doesn't win. That sentiment describes who TOR is as a team. If they can't win with PP goals, drop passes, and puck possession then they have no other way. They cannot win by outworking another team, they can't win it on goaltending bailing them out, and they can't win it on defensive play, and toughness. All the things that Shanahan and the Red Wings had. It just sickens me how far Shanny has let this go.


Shanny>
Dubas>. Made their bed. Now they have lie in it.
Keefe>

 

[hamzarocks]

Not that I'm dma Dubas super fan like some on here.

But we were 2-4-1 and down 2-0 to the Blackhawks in game 8. Everyone was losing it then and it looked like major firings were coming.

Leafs came back in that game and went 14-3 in their next 17

It's been 4 games. Yeah I don't know what they'll do come playoffs (Likely a 1st round exit if they can't wake up and play better as the season progresses)

But 4 games is too little. Should wait till game 15. If we're .500 then a firing may be in play

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

If this core really doesn't accomplish something, it will be the largest wasted opportunity I've lived through as a Toronto sports fan.

 

[HockeyVirus]

It’s not even whether Matthews scores or not. There’s no fight, no urgency, no heart to stand up for one another in this group.

It’s starting to seem like a disaster all around. Last nights game for example, I was shocked to see our first PP unit go back on to start the fourth powerplay after going three without even a shot on net… Regardless if they scored later on or not, what kind of message does that give to the rest of the players on this team? Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Tavares and Rielly can literally shit the bed and still be given almost all of the powerplay time next opportunity.

Not only does it send a bad message to the rest of the players, it gives those five players all the power. They know even if they don’t preform they’ll still be given all the ice time they want.

Still early but I’m starting to loose faith in Keefe slowly.

This board JFK... You want Keefe to bench the stars 4 games into the season? Sure if this is a lack of effort in Feb or something I can see this being said... But Keefe kept playing them because the stars are in a funk and he is trying to get them out of it.

Last season Matthews had what 2 goals in his first 9 games and then he scored 60? Leafs started 2-4-1 and then set a franchise record for points.

We are making the playoffs. Why do we care about how this team plays in October? In the new year we are saying "yeah their good record means nothing let's see the playoffs". Good lord.

 

[Osmows OReilly]

Not that I'm dma Dubas super fan like some on here.

But we were 2-4-1 and down 2-0 to the Blackhawks in game 8. Everyone was losing it then and it looked like major firings were coming.

Leafs came back in that game and went 14-3 in their next 17

It's been 4 games. Yeah I don't know what they'll do come playoffs (Likely a 1st round exit if they can't wake up and play better as the season progresses)

But 4 games is too little. Should wait till game 15. If we're .500 then a firing may be in play

Do you think Keefe and/or Dubas would’ve been fired had they lost that game against the Blackhawks? I had the feeling they would’ve been.

 

[hamzarocks]

Do you think Keefe and/or Dubas would’ve been fired had they lost that game against the Blackhawks? I had the feeling they would’ve been.

Yeah I expected a change if we lost

2-5-1, teams faltering heavily and Keefe couldn't get the boys to produce

Thought it was season over there or very shortly for Keefe

 

[Apex Predator]

Do you think Shanny is feeling the heat as well or just Dubas?

 

[Osmows OReilly]

Do you think Shanny is feeling the heat as well or just Dubas?

Some people have said that when heads roll all three would go…I think that’s going to be the case. Like what can Shanahan really say to defend himself? He’s been here eight years and has nothing to show for it.