Dubas appreciation thread

[Dreakmur]

He helped build that entire team. He signed a lot of guys as free agents. That was his team.

Which guys did Dubas sign as free agents?

 

[TMLegend]

What's with all the "Too early" comments? Too early for compliments, but not to early to knock him non-stop? The guy has gotten trashed since his first season as GM

Ultimately, his team will be judged on whether or not they have any post-season success. The regular season(especially this year) should be taken with a grain of salt.

There probably won't be a better opportunity for them to make a run.

 

[Dreakmur]

True

I mean adding muzzin and Clifford his first two deadlines was definitely an all skill approach and making Brodie his prime signing this year was definitely an all toughness and grit approach.

Totally abrupt change there.

This is what people must see when they look at the world through a toilet paper roll.

 

[zeke]

This is what people must see when they look at the world through a toilet paper roll.

Bad quips won't save your baseless claim.

 

[Buds17]

I would appreciate an improved finish in the playoffs most of all. That said, just 12 games of a 56 game season have been played thus far. The team is currently first in the North. I can appreciate that. His additions are working out well and injuries haven't hit the team hard.

 

[ToneDog]

And that's the exact type of short-sighted and instant gratification mindset that has heavily contributed to our lack of Cup for so long.

Dubas has not been here for 50 years. He's been here for just over two, and he's been doing a great job. What happened for the overwhelming majority of those years has zero relevance to right now.

No one person is responsible for 50 years of futility but like it or not those 50 years have influeneced a large part of the fan base. Let's not forget this is year 7 of the Shanny era.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

What exactly was his Marlies work? How many players did he acquire as the GM of that team?

What wasn't his Marlie work? Or his Soo work?

 

[The Shrike]

Aside from what Zeke said, Marner was drafted while Kyle was in the GM chair. You can argue Hunter /Dubas if you like.

Yeah, and I remember fans complaining that we drafted the small, skilled forward over the big defenseman (Hanifin) whose game is more suited to the NHL.

 

[Dekes For Days]

No one person is responsible for 50 years of futility but like it or not those 50 years have influeneced a large part of the fan base.

That sounds like a "large part of the fanbase" problem, not a Dubas problem.

 

[Dreakmur]

What wasn't his Marlie work? Or his Soo work?

His Marlies work was a lot of learning, and that set him up well for when he took over the big club. As the AHL GM, there is very little to do in player acquisitions and personnel moves.

 

[ToneDog]

That sounds like a "large part of the fanbase" problem, not a Dubas problem.

Well Dubas has to work with it.

 

[CincoHolio]

I'm convinced Babcock was sabotaging this team.

Nah, just a loss of one of his senses. Guy couldn't smell his own stink.

PS. Former Babs supporter who now sees he was definitely a major hinderance to the development of the team.

 

[CincoHolio]

Whole different team without that moron behind the bench.

What a relief to finally see this team live up to their potential.

Good on Dubas to recognize not only was the coach an ill fit for the team but also that the team wasn't good enough either, in seasons past.

 

[IPS]

Good on Dubas to recognize not only was the coach an ill fit for the team but also that the team wasn't good enough either, in seasons past.

Of course. I never thought it was fair to pass full judgement on Dubas with a coach who was intentionally screwing with the team for his own self interest. The team clearly looked better under Keefe last season when he took over, and then ran into a crazy injury situation where the Babcock supporters jumped back into the fray screaming "SEE, I told you the team sucks!!"

The Columbus series loss did suck, and that's definitely a stain on Dubas - but he looks like he's got a hell of a team built this year.

 

[Menzinger]

Which guys did Dubas sign as free agents?

Holl is the first one that came to mind.

An investment that has certainly paid off

 

[TMLegend]

Bad quips won't save your baseless claim.

It's not baseless. You're just being purposefully ignorant.

Notable additions previous two offseasons:
John Tavares, Par Lindholm, Tyler Ennis, Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Ilya Mikheyev

Notable departures over the same two offseasons:
James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Connor Carrick, Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau, Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner, Connor Brown.

I didn't include anyone not playing in the NHL anymore, or anyone who didn't play a significant number of games as a Leaf.

So we lost Komarov, Martin, Kadri, all of whom are physical and/or agitating players and replaced them with absolutely no one that plays that style over those same two offseasons. In fact, the majority of his acquisitions over that time period were of the softer, skill based variety.

If you don't think adding the likes of Thornton, Simmonds, and Bogosian this off-season was a realization from Dubas that the Leafs needed to be tougher to play against than I'm not sure what to say.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Of course. I never thought it was fair to pass full judgement on Dubas with a coach who was intentionally screwing with the team for his own self interest. The team clearly looked better under Keefe last season when he took over, and then ran into a crazy injury situation where the Babcock supporters jumped back into the fray screaming "SEE, I told you the team sucks!!"

The Columbus series loss did suck, and that's definitely a stain on Dubas - but he looks like he's got a hell of a team built this year.

Agree with everything, especially the bolded. Losing to CLB did suck but this team as of now looks like dynamite. I don't want to get too carried away as it's only been a dozen games and the competition has been bad and won't get much better so hard to know for sure what we have here. I'm getting a good feeling about this bunch though in a way I haven't felt in a very long time, 28 years to be precise. It's been a long time coming but good times might finally be here.

 

[Dreakmur]

Holl is the first one that came to mind.

An investment that has certainly paid off

As far as I remember, Holl was never signed to an AHL deal.

 

[Menzinger]

It's not baseless. You're just being purposefully ignorant.

Notable additions previous two offseasons:
John Tavares, Par Lindholm, Tyler Ennis, Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Ilya Mikheyev

Notable departures over the same two offseasons:
James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Connor Carrick, Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau, Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner, Connor Brown.

I didn't include anyone not playing in the NHL anymore, or anyone who didn't play a significant number of games as a Leaf.

So we lost Komarov, Martin, Kadri, all of whom are physical and/or agitating players and replaced them with absolutely no one that plays that style over those same two offseasons. In fact, the majority of his acquisitions over that time period were of the softer, skill based variety.

If you don't think adding the likes of Thornton, Simmonds, and Bogosian this off-season was a realization from Dubas that the Leafs needed to be tougher to play against than I'm not sure what to say.

Komarov left as a UFA and Martin was made a healthy scratch by Babcock while Lou was still GM. So I think tend to exaggerate thr supposed departure of grit. Especially given that Muzzin and Clifford were each added in each subsequent season and now Simmonds.

 

[Nylander88]

Amazing how a few signings of guys who play with heart and talk a lot on the bench can change the whole attitude of a team. We're all bias year in and year out, but this team feels a lot different with Simmonds, Thornton, and Bogosian. Wasn't just about adding a guy that can punch you in the face in his 3 minutes a night, but changing the attitude around the team. Matty and Marner look way more engaged this year. Excited to see this team hopefully make noise when it matters most. Good in Dubas for recognizing his own flaws, and making the necessary changes

 

[zeke]

It's not baseless. You're just being purposefully ignorant.

Notable additions previous two offseasons:
John Tavares, Par Lindholm, Tyler Ennis, Cody Ceci, Tyson Barrie, Alex Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Ilya Mikheyev

Notable departures over the same two offseasons:
James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Connor Carrick, Nazem Kadri, Patrick Marleau, Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner, Connor Brown.

I didn't include anyone not playing in the NHL anymore, or anyone who didn't play a significant number of games as a Leaf.

So we lost Komarov, Martin, Kadri, all of whom are physical and/or agitating players and replaced them with absolutely no one that plays that style over those same two offseasons. In fact, the majority of his acquisitions over that time period were of the softer, skill based variety.

If you don't think adding the likes of Thornton, Simmonds, and Bogosian this off-season was a realization from Dubas that the Leafs needed to be tougher to play against than I'm not sure what to say.

Martin was waived off the team long before Kyle took over. Komarov couldn't crack the playoffs lineup before Kyle took over.

You "forgot" to mention Muzzin, Clifford, and others.

And people calling Joe Thornton a tough guy now instead of a skill guy is pretty funny.

I gave a complete accurate list earlier in the thread.

 

[The Podium]

As far as I remember, Holl was never signed to an AHL deal.

Dubas had full authority to make NHL deals he thought would be beneficial to the Marlies at that time, with Lous blessing of course.

He was also responsible for dealing McKegg for Hyman which was a Marlies move at that time

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

What exactly was his Marlies work? How many players did he acquire as the GM of that team?

He hired Keefe as coach and would've signed many of the AHL vets to AHL deals to surround our young up and comers like Kap, Dermott, Johnsson etc. Guys like Ben Smith, Mueller, Loverde, Pickard. Also signed Trevor Moore and Mason March Marchment who were undrafted college and Junior free agents.

 

[IPS]

Martin was waived off the team long before Kyle took over. Komarov couldn't crack the playoffs lineup before Kyle took over.

You "forgot" to mention Muzzin, Clifford, and others.

I gave a complete accurate list earlier in the thread.

The story on Martin already came out. He confronted Babcock about screwing with Marner and Babcock scratched him the rest of the season. If people want to whine about lack of grit, they can thank Babcock for that one.

 

[Dreakmur]

He hired Keefe as coach and would've signed many of the AHL vets to AHL deals to surround our young up and comers like Kap, Dermott, Johnsson etc. Guys like Ben Smith, Mueller, Loverde, Pickard. Also signed Trevor Moore and Mason March Marchment who were undrafted college and Junior free agents.

Mason Marchment was on a AHL deal. I don't think any of the other guys were.