Despite major challanges, Kyle Dubas has passed the tests

[All Mod Cons]

I find it really hard to grade Dubas to be honest.

He has changed his approach drastically from focusing on skill guys, to going for grit, and now going for experience.

Most of his free agency deals have been good, some have been damn near miraculous, and some have been atrocious.

On the trade front, there haven't been any home runs, but a couple of really good ones, but we've also had a bunch of blunders.

Player signings have been ok, but the big ticket guys seemed to have gotten all of what they wanted while role players have been forced to feed off the remaining scraps.

I think Dubas has significantly improved as a GM recently, and it is showing on the ice as well as behind the bench.

Yeah. The wasted early years on his tenure, when he focused on a philosophy that wouldn't work was frustrating. And then having half the fanbase telling the other half of the fanbase they were stupid for criticizing the philosophy was even more frustrating.

It's good to see Dubas realize he got it wrong. But man, did those wasted years ever want you to pull your hair out. Aaarrgghh

 

[Leafblooded]

Ok Kyle we get it

 

[Gary Nylund]

He has a handful of players, one a core four, that didn't put in the effort to win a tough playoff series.

The core players all played very well in the playoffs and they outplayed TB's core guys.

You really don't have a clue, do you?

 

[Mad hatter]

He has a handful of players, one a core four, that didn't put in the effort to win a tough playoff series.

I agree, the Habs series still make me angry too, should of won

 

[29Potvin]

The leafs had their best season ever, 4th in the league in points, 2nd in goals scored, all while having below goaltending. With average goaltending the argument could be made that this team could have won the president trophy. This definitely should earn him another season behind the bench imho.

This coach has also lost three straight game "7" (one 5) And in all three the opponent played the same lockdown the front of the net defense and our coaching staff never changed the attack.

 

[ShaneFalco]

I am so tired of listening to how tough Dubas had it when he became GM.

He inherited a 105 point team with a plethora of young talent and ample cap space. Yes, the Marleau contract was shitty, but it was short term and was not a cap issue until Dubas made the decision to sign Tavares knowing Marleau was on the books and 88/34/16 all needed new deals.

We're going into year 5 with Kyle, we don't have a #1 goalie signed, hell we don't even have a #2 unless the warrior Mrazek is considered safe. We would have had Foligno back if Dubas got his way. We have a coach who can't adapt in the playoffs. Clog the centre of the ice and Keefe has no answers.

We've had a revolving door of players to help with the "killer instinct" and "leadership" but before that it was the Petan variety. Our 3rd and 4ht lines have been a problem for years and especially in the playoffs. We have a declining $11m player, Muzzin is on the decline it seems......

All this to say lots of holes and not a lot of cap room. But he's somehow a top GM to some with a record for playoff failure

 

[m1ker]

In hindsight, I’m not feeling good knowing E. Kane, Kadri, and Perry could of been on the leafs. All under great contracts.

 

[supermann_98]

Did you not watch the playoffs?


Haha if you say so. Calling a thread counterproductive implies that other threads might be productive but the thing is, they're all just anonymous discussions about a hockey team.

Cliff notes: No thread ever is "productive".

Did you not watch the blowout 7-1 loss to the Wilkes Scranton Penguins?
Did you not watch the 5-1 and 5-2 losses to bottom-feeder Buffalo?
Did you not watch the 2 losses to bottom-feeder Arizona?
Did you not watch the multiple humiliating losses to bottom-feeder Montreal this past season?
What about the 8-1 loss to Tampa near the end of the year?

This team continues to play only when they feel like, and takes the night off whenever they think they can scrape by with minimal effort.

 

[ITM]

That's the problem with him. Love the player. Heart and soul, but with short fuse. It's easy to agree that he would have been gift against Tampa in a sense with veteran like Perry, but he is also at the same time accident waiting to happen in the hands of players like Maroon.

Rules for thee and not for me applies to Kadri as well.

That Boston series the Bruins were permitted to play in that nebulous razor thin area between allowable infraction and penalized. Kadri, played like a Bruin but made the mistake of doing so while wearing a Maple Leaf.

 

[Mad hatter]

This coach has also lost three straight game "7" (one 5) And in all three the opponent played the same lockdown the front of the net defense and our coaching staff never changed the attack.

I agree with, against the Habs the blame should be put on Keefe for sure, didn’t try to change anything. But this year I noticed he tried to change up things in the playoffs a few times. The people who say he didn’t obviously did not watch the games close enough I guess

 

[Gary Nylund]

All this to say lots of holes and not a lot of cap room. But he's somehow a top GM to some with a record for playoff failure

4th overall and almost beat powerhouse TB in the playoffs, but he's somehow a complete moron to some people.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Did you not watch the blowout 7-1 loss to the Wilkes Scranton Penguins?
Did you not watch the 5-1 and 5-2 losses to bottom-feeder Buffalo?
Did you not watch the 2 losses to bottom-feeder Arizona?
Did you not watch the multiple humiliating losses to bottom-feeder Montreal this past season?
What about the 8-1 loss to Tampa near the end of the year?

This team continues to play only when they feel like, and takes the night off whenever they think they can scrape by with minimal effort.

I asked you if you watched the playoffs and you come back with this crapola? Seriously? Campbell slumped for months and Mrazek had multiple injury issues during his worst season ever, despite that we finished 4th overall and you're pointing to some cherry picked regular season games to make some sort of point?

I can't wait to see what you come up with next!!

 

[ShaneFalco]

4th overall and almost beat powerhouse TB in the playoffs, but he's somehow a complete moron to some people.

Almost beat a powerhouse. And you see no problem with that statement. He's not a complete moron but an arrogant failure who is wasting away years here with his sure-fire vision

 

[29Potvin]

I agree with, against the Habs the blame should be put on Keefe for sure, didn’t try to change anything. But this year I noticed he tried to change up things in the playoffs a few times. The people who say he didn’t obviously did not watch the games close enough I guess

I agree that he made in-game adjustments during the series but in all three deciding games the other teams went into lockdown D he did very little outside of moving players around, the system stayed the same.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

I have remained firm in my belief of Kyle as our GM. I think he is progressive, and the value he places on culture, opportunity, and transparency have allowed us to attract many players on sweetheart deals to compensate for a bloated top end of our cap construction. Gio signing well below market value is just the most recent example of this. TOR ticked every box for Gio. To the point where he decide not even to go to July 1 to see what else was out there. That doesn't happen if the culture is poor. Kyle plays a large role in establishing that.

He has made his fair share of mistakes in his time. But the good far exceeds the bad. It's not even close really. I am so thankful they are bring him back next season. He truly is a top 10 GM in the NHL already IMO. I see absolutely no reason to move on from him at this point.

Talk about delusional.

I’m sure you’ll be copy and pasting this post next year when we get bounced in round 1 again?

 

[DraftSchmaft]

No offence but this thread does nothing to show how Dubas passed any tests.

All I see is a GM failing to utilize arguably the best core in the league. I'd pick anyone here at random to be GM and bet all my money Leafs still make the playoffs and finish near the top of the league.

Okay not anyone, one of my fellow ride or die core 4 members who will build around them.

Put some effort into showing how he proved anything at least. At bare minimum you need to show why any other GM couldn't have made the changes he made.

The opportunity cost of having Dubas as our GM is actually really high, so no, he did not pass anything and still has ways to go to earn that kind of recognition,

 

[Dreakmur]

The leafs had their best season ever, 4th in the league in points, 2nd in goals scored, all while having below goaltending. With average goaltending the argument could be made that this team could have won the president trophy. This definitely should earn him another season behind the bench imho.

Keefe has lost 3 straight play-off series as the higher seed.

 

[Nineteen67]

His on the job learning cost the Leafs millions of dollars. The poor negotiation of the contracts and how they’ve had to manage the cap because of that misstep has had a ripple effect to this day.
They should always have a payroll at the top of the cap, but they spent extra dollars on LTIR, Bonuses they’ve paid and traded the AAV, lost playoff revenues.

 

[supermann_98]

I asked you if you watched the playoffs and you come back with this crapola? Seriously? Campbell slumped for months and Mrazek had multiple injury issues during his worst season ever, despite that we finished 4th overall and you're pointing to some cherry picked regular season games to make some sort of point?

I can't wait to see what you come up with next!!

I didn't get your point and yes I did watch the playoffs and saw the same tendencies in games 2 and 4 where they came out flat (down 5-1 in game 2) and (down 5-0 in game 4) thinking they could get by winning without putting in the effort.

Sure they put in the effort in games 6 and 7 but by then the already handed TB two gimme's and got shut down.

Not sure why you're laughing so hard considering this team is still nothing but a bunch of proven choking losers, that ain't funny

 

[Gary Nylund]

Almost beat a powerhouse. And you see no problem with that statement. He's not a complete moron but an arrogant failure who is wasting away years here with his sure-fire vision

Why would stating facts be a problem?

 

[Nineteen67]

The core players all played very well in the playoffs and they outplayed TB's core guys.

You really don't have a clue, do you?

We all saw the plays. At least 5 that were head shakers

 

[Gary Nylund]

Not sure why you're laughing so hard considering this team is still nothing but a bunch of proven choking losers, that ain't funny

I was laughing at your ridiculous post. Did you really not understand even that much?

 

[Zybalto]

Did you not watch the blowout 7-1 loss to the Wilkes Scranton Penguins?
Did you not watch the 5-1 and 5-2 losses to bottom-feeder Buffalo?
Did you not watch the 2 losses to bottom-feeder Arizona?
Did you not watch the multiple humiliating losses to bottom-feeder Montreal this past season?
What about the 8-1 loss to Tampa near the end of the year?

This team continues to play only when they feel like, and takes the night off whenever they think they can scrape by with minimal effort.

I watched all those games.

The only example that has any merit at all is the Buffalo one and even then, the games were mostly evenly played (and Toronto should be outplaying them)

I mean, the Leafs had some major goaltending issues for a huge chunk of the year. That has nothing to do with effort level.

Just take Arizona for example.

The Leafs outshot them 84-41 over 2 games and yet went 0-1-1.

In your opinion, was that an effort issue?

 

[supermann_98]

I was laughing at your ridiculous post. Did you really not understand even that much?

I get I didn't understand your incoherent nonsense sorry

 

[Dreakmur]

Has Dubas won a trade as a GM?

Yes. He usually makes good trades, and acquires good players, but they are too often players that we either didn't need or don't fit in.