Dubas details his 'biggest mistake' as Leafs GM in new book

[Tie Domi Esquire]

He was a pushover in the Nylander negotiation when Nylander held out to Dec 1. Larkin, Pasta, and Ehlers good comparables, but he gave in and Nylander at the time did not merit to be paid more than any of the players mentioned, he then put up a 27 pt season off of that contract. That was the biggest Dubas mistake because it set the table for other team unfriendly contracts. You can also criticize him moving on Kadri, Hyman, Brown, Bozak, amongst many too numerous to list here, some that have gone on to cups or cup finals as valuable support players. Not to mention him trading high picks for Nick Foligno types. Or his fascination with acquiring subpar goalies. Lots to chose here, he was an awful GM in Toronto, and probably still is an awful GM/President. Don't respect him much, tried to an end around on another dummy Shanahan. Not a fan of backstabbers even if the one being backstabbed is the politician Shanahan who one can say is the architect of the Dubas charade as a NHL Exec.

True. The reality is much more pathetic than what the weasel is painting it out to be.

 

[La Bamba]

This guy destroyed the best up and coming young team/core this league would've seen in decades

 

[HisIceness]

He has a book? Why?

 

[67 others]

His biggest mistake. Taking a job he was/is totally unqualified for.

He just signed a contract with like 35-40 million.

If taking a job you are not qualified for and getting a massive paycheck is a mistake, sign me up. I'll make that mistake

 

[Galaxydoggystyle]

He just signed a contract with like 35-40 million.

If taking a job you are not qualified for and getting a massive paycheck is a mistake, sign me up. I'll make that mistake

Yeah I agree and on top of that even if he is fired he is still owed the full amount. That guy is laughing his ass off all the way to the bank doing a good job or not.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

His 2nd mistake??? Coming to/ruining the Penguins

f*** this pencil-necked twerp

 

[SomeDude]

How do busy people write books? Too many people write books

Mike Sullivan is running the Pens. Dubas is just there to charm the drooling media.

 

[sxvnert]

And yet he continued to talk down to every person who argued otherwise with that stupid know it all smirk. Good luck Pens fans.

 

[FMichael]

LEAFS NOTES: Kyle Dubas delves into his 'biggest mistake' in new book and, no, it wasn't the Tavares signing

While Toronto's former general manager doesn't regret pursuit of John Tavares and a multi-year contract, the fallout had consequences.

torontosun.com

And how much did Blake give PLD?

But at least he found a sucker in the Caps

This guy destroyed the best up and coming young team/core this league would've seen in decades

I think the pretty boys in Tronna did it to themselves with their demands.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Dubas signing Tavares with that horrible term set the franchise back 5-8 years. Then he does it again with Marner.

Should have just kept Kadri all along.

 

[Gurglesons]

Mike Sullivan is running the Pens. Dubas is just there to charm the drooling media.

When you wrap up your off season every year on July 1 probably easy to spend your summer writing books.

 

[Hasbro]

Well, it's good that he, at least now, understands this himself as well. He really f***ed up Leafs salary structure. Perhaps he has been doing some soul-searching.

Also, who the hell is going to buy his book?

He still got any Stans left?

 

[613Leafer]

He was a pushover in the Nylander negotiation when Nylander held out to Dec 1. Larkin, Pasta, and Ehlers good comparables, but he gave in and Nylander at the time did not merit to be paid more than any of the players mentioned, he then put up a 27 pt season off of that contract. That was the biggest Dubas mistake because it set the table for other team unfriendly contracts. You can also criticize him moving on Kadri, Hyman, Brown, Bozak, amongst many too numerous to list here, some that have gone on to cups or cup finals as valuable support players. Not to mention him trading high picks for Nick Foligno types. Or his fascination with acquiring subpar goalies. Lots to chose here, he was an awful GM in Toronto, and probably still is an awful GM/President. Don't respect him much, tried to an end around on another dummy Shanahan. Not a fan of backstabbers even if the one being backstabbed is the politician Shanahan who one can say is the architect of the Dubas charade as a NHL Exec.

Agreed. People with hindsight say the Nylander contract wasn't overpaid - it was though. Comparables at the time signed either for way less, or for less AND longer.

In terms of his tenure overall... Think about his five best moves and his five worst moves, I struggle to come up with 5 really solid good moves, but can easily come up with 5+ bad ones.

Five Best Moves:
-Signing Brodie
-Signing Bunting for cheap
-1st + 2nd + Anderson for McCabe (50% retention) + Lafferty
-Schenn for a 3rd
-Dumping Zaitsev for one year or Ceci (cost Connor Brown)

Five Worst Moves (hard to come up with just 5, so take your pick):
-Kadri for Barrie + Kerfoot
-Marchment for Malgin (obsession with "skill" over size)
-1st + two 4ths for Foligno
-1st to move ONE year of Marleau (turned into Seth Jarvis, exactly the type of cheap ELC impact player we could have used)
-Big Four contracts (which are arguably four separate mistakes)
-Mrazek contract
-Protecting Holl over McCann in the expansion draft
-Letting Hyman walk when he wanted to stay
-Will stop here, but there are more (eg Murray, not firing Keefe, not shaking up the Core Four, etc)

Even some moves that are generally praised (eg acquiring Muzzin, acquiring Campbell, moving Zaitsev, etc), he gave up good value for, so I wouldn't say they were slam dunk good moves. Like Muzzin cost a 1st + Durzi (who has become a young top 4 RHD) + Grundstrom. Campbell cost Trevor Moore and a 3rd, and ultimately struggled for us when it counted and got us nowhere. Moving Zaitsev cost Connor Brown.

 

[ijuka]

Blame dubas!!!! Not the 4 ppg players who get clowned every year and do nothing and get completely clamped in the first round

You mean the 4 players who... Dubas overpaid, right?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

When you wrap up your off season every year on July 1 probably easy to spend your summer writing books.

His title is going to be “The Doobler: A Tale of Failing Upwards”

 

[John Mandalorian]

Dubas signing Tavares with that horrible term set the franchise back 5-8 years. Then he does it again with Marner.

Should have just kept Kadri all along.

Would you call it a Dubacle?

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Would you call it a Dubacle?

Indubitably.

 

[Hasbro]

I mean, I used the word play... a Mortgage is a different thing entirely because it provides shelter and it's one of 2 ways to get a house.

Squatting?

 

[John Mandalorian]

Indubitably.

Indeed, it’s quite Dubias.

 

[These Are The Days]

In hindsight, yeah, dumb signing overall. But at the same time, imagine the backlash if he DOESN'T sign Tavaras. Imagine the Toronto fan and media reaction: O.M.G. you have a 1ov talent like Tavaras that wants to play for his boyhood team! OMG how could you not sign him! That's the kind of 1C franchise player you MAKE ROOM FOR! Huge opportunity missed! OMG if they don't win, it will be because of this!

I think for Tavaras, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.

You're right. That probably is what they'd have said. And Dubas is in a position to tell the press to f*** off and that this isn't GM mode in video games. And if you can't outright say signing Tavares would increase salary cost across the entire team, just make some vague statement like "The long term success of our team depends on utilizing every penny of our cap space effectively. Once you bite the apple, you can't put it back. If this team is going to be as good as we think it is, signing Tavares would not have been necessary"

Anything.

But they made their bed and f***ed up what will probably be the only true rebuild the Leafs make until the next generation of fans

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Was there any mention in the book of the other phenomenon:

The Dubas Robots.

An absolute blight on the culture of leaf fans. Kyle literally sculpted a young male identity who were idealistic, fundamental, and felt analytics was the path to hockey purity. That despite referees, a bad goalie, Lou, etc. TOR would have won the Cup every year due to their possession stats.

Hockey fans (especially Canadian ones) love to bash the Leafs, but it was beyond difficult to have this and the robots to deal with in the Dubas Era.

Biggest mistake? There was one big one and several were a close second.

 

[tucker3434]

Well, good luck Pittsburgh.

 

[Hasbro]

Was there any mention in the book of the other phenomenon:

The Dubas Robots.

An absolute blight on the culture of leaf fans. Kyle literally sculpted a young male identity who were idealistic, fundamental, and felt analytics was the path to hockey purity. That despite referees, a bad goalie, Lou, etc. TOR would have won the Cup every year due to their possession stats.

Hockey fans (especially Canadian ones) love to bash the Leafs, but it was beyond difficult to have this and the robots to deal with in the Dubas Era.

Biggest mistake? There was one big one and several were a close second.

They were worse when Burke was in charge.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

But did he learn though? He just acquired Erik karlsson, another big name piece as one of his first moves. A statement making splash. That contract isnt gonna end well. I dont at all believe his intentions, he seems arrogant as hell and doesnt deserve any excuse as a "young GM" of a big market. Wow, it’s a tough market but guess what, that also means he has the most resources in the NHL to be able to offer front loaded deals with bonuses.

No issues with the EK trade. He gave up a bunch of cap dumps for a hall of fame defenseman. It was a very good deal.

 

[leafsfan5]

This. I hate when people use that excuse for Dubas, as if the covid flat cap world was only a problem for the Leafs.

They were just the most poorly equipped to handle it, because 30 other GM's weren't stupid enough to give their RFA's overpaid UFA style deals

This is the part that gets me, people use the rising cap as an excuse for overpaying them even though their EXACT comparables were getting less at the same time. Case in point, Rantanen got 9.25 like 3 weeks after Marner got 10.93

How come those teams were also aware that the cap would rise, however, they weren't as eager to overpay their RFAs?