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

[The Hanging Jowl]

I still think Tavares made it the worst way possible. Holding out on his franchise to get anything out of him before playoff. Holdi g out, aint saying anything. Then signing the hometown team(no harm against you there bud), but no hometown discount here. No no. The reverse . He swept his hometeam, wiyh a 8 year hyper overpayment. I get its his last big conrract, but man. If you want to win the cup, you better help the team with the cap, 10 millions at least. Slow Tavares is a type that ages baaadly.
But as with all overblown and expensive contracts, its biting the player itself in the ass. Eirher buyout, trade, LTIR,or seem by fans as a big anchor. Tavares at 6-7 millions I would be Ok with. 11,5, no ,not a chance by a country mile. The Tavares contract, and handling was a failure. Well, only two years left. Hold on.


Tavares for sure is a hometown bou, but man, his playingstyle is the sort that ages bad. 11,5 millions. Yikes.

11M. He scored 47 goals his first year with the Leafs and roughly matched his career point production every year he's been with them. Everyone knew he'd tail off towards the end and here we are at the end. He held up his end of the bargain. And he took a discount to come to the Leafs to boot

 

[SwedishFire]

11M. He scored 47 goals his first year with the Leafs and roughly matched his career point production every year he's been with them. Everyone knew he'd tail off towards the end and here we are at the end. He held up his end of the bargain. And he took a discount to come to the Leafs to boot

Discount? This player has never scored 50 goals or assisted no by near an assist per game.

 

[eojsmada]

Said this forever, that the Leafs were bargaining against themselves the entire time and that the Tavares contract was a mistake more so for the $ value that you had expend. Tavares, if he was serious, should have come in at a lower number, but the Leafs (Dubas/Shanahan) couldn't help themselves and wanted to "win" the sweepstakes that ultimately will doom their franchise. This is exactly the same kind of mentality that caused Burke to dumpster fire his team for a decade to get Phaneuf and Kessel.

 

[kevsh]

While all true, Dubas couldn't have forecasted COVID-19 or the impact it had on the salary cap. Certainly not trying to excuse his decisions, but the stagnant cap made things a lot more difficult for teams without cap flexibility.

Agreed, but he still didn't need a 2C. Or at least one making $11M, stagnant cap or not.

And again, if Dubas wanted to add something to the group (veteran, leadership, or just filling a need position-wise), C was the last position they needed to spend that money on.

 

[Killswitch]

Agreed, but he still didn't need a 2C. Or at least one making $11M, stagnant cap or not.

And again, if Dubas wanted to add something to the group (veteran, leadership, or just filling a need position-wise), C was the last position they needed to spend that money on.

Mathews and Kadri were fine. We needed defence and a hell of a lot more patience

 

[Golden_Jet]

11M. He scored 47 goals his first year with the Leafs and roughly matched his career point production every year he's been with them. Everyone knew he'd tail off towards the end and here we are at the end. He held up his end of the bargain. And he took a discount to come to the Leafs to boot

He was a ppg player or just under when signed with leafs.
That was not an 11 million dollar player, is a career high of 88 points, worth that, it’s not.

 

[John Mandalorian]

11M. He scored 47 goals his first year with the Leafs and roughly matched his career point production every year he's been with them. Everyone knew he'd tail off towards the end and here we are at the end. He held up his end of the bargain. And he took a discount to come to the Leafs to boot

This is an argument for a shorter contract so his time aligns with their core. Unlikely he was going to sign a shorter contract though.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Discount? This player has never scored 50 goals or assisted no by near an assist per game.

He was offered more by other teams. No one disputes this.

 

[Golden_Jet]

He was offered more by other teams. No one disputes this.

So 2 dumb GM’s then wanted to overpay him.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

lmao bs. Pretty sure "truculence" was tattoed on everyone the day he got hired. There was posters who spent months telling everyone that kessel trade was highway robbery, and not for the Bruins

I think you're talking about cheerleaders and not Dubas Robots.

 

[Killswitch]

I think you're talking about cheerleaders and not Dubas Robots.

Same thing. You couldn't tell either apart. Both thought everything they did was absolutely the right course, and even when it turned out bad it was just a hiccup that plagued other teams as well. The only difference being, I didn't get heartbroken by Burke because I don't think the owners wanted a rebuild anyway

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

11M. He scored 47 goals his first year with the Leafs and roughly matched his career point production every year he's been with them. Everyone knew he'd tail off towards the end and here we are at the end. He held up his end of the bargain. And he took a discount to come to the Leafs to boot

He was the 2nd highest paid forward in hockey but was nowhere near the 2nd best producing forward in hockey for pretty much his entire tenure. How is that holding up his end of the bargain?

Dude didn't finish top 10 in scoring any of his years in Toronto, yet was paid like he was a perennial threat to win the Art Ross.

Still amazes me that there are still some Leaf fans who will defend the Tavares contract. You paid for Nathan MacKinnon but instead got Mark Scheifele.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

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

No, that is a stupid thing to say.

He's a young guy and took a job and was paid well to do a job that generally goes to old dudes.

Now he gets to be the fallguy for the Pens when their superstars retire, and I maintain that is why they hired him.

He will take the blunt, but he's also made some serious money and we'd all do the same.

But he also now has experience and hindsight to go on. I'd say he's done well career wise.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

We knew this the day after the signings

Only took him like 4 years to figure it out

also, where’s the Tavares signing mentioning? Another grade A screw-up by him

Zero problem from me for the Tavares signing.

One more year.

Not a big deal.

I know that Leafs had had next to no success with him, but not a problem at all going forward.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Same thing. You couldn't tell either apart. Both thought everything they did was absolutely the right course, and even when it turned out bad it was just a hiccup that plagued other teams as well. The only difference being, I didn't get heartbroken by Burke because I don't think the owners wanted a rebuild anyway

Are you a Leafs fan?

 

[Strangle]

The issue is the core never performed in line with their regular season exploits.

The cap structure was and is off but not enough for them to keep losing in the first or second round. They should still have been a team that goes deep even if it does not win the cup.

His biggest mistake was putting too much trust in a core that is flimsy when it matters and then the flat cap made it worse. Should have been more harsh with them and start cutting pieces from the core.

I had to read way too far into this thread to find someone with sense who isn’t afraid to blame the players here.

The truth is that Dubas wasn’t perfect but the players he bet on were f***ing terrible

That’s not on Dubas, they were supposed to be good. The failures here are fall mostly on the players shoulders

 

[Hasbro]

There were no Dubas Robots when Burke was in charge.

There were Burke huffers riding his bluster.

 

[Killswitch]

Are you a Leafs fan?

For 51 years. Do I not seem like one?

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Same thing. You couldn't tell either apart. Both thought everything they did was absolutely the right course, and even when it turned out bad it was just a hiccup that plagued other teams as well. The only difference being, I didn't get heartbroken by Burke because I don't think the owners wanted a rebuild anyway

Through most of the burke era there was a divided fanbase. The Dubas era was different. There was a minority ages 17 to 22 who watched "Moneyball" too many times. From what I could tell the majority of knowledgeable leaf fans were angry with the cap.structure and the playoff futility. Those knowledgeable fans didn't feel that TOR should have been awarded The Expected Goals Cup.

 

[Matty Sundin]

The thing with signing Tavares who is a fine damn player was he wasn’t a need. We just lost to the Bruins in a playoff series where our defence was exposed and our goalie got burnt out trying to mask that. Management saw a shiny toy and deciding they want that without much thought. They still wanted to go with the “we outscore our problems”.

The Tavares signing is really when the “Shanaplan” went out the window and we were looking for shortcuts. They tried the same thing with Stamkos in 2016 which probably further proves that “plan” was bs from the start.

We had Auston+Kadri(bargain contract) and could re signed Bozak for much less and our center depth would have been fine with more cap space to fill other needs. You could say Covid flat cap ruined it but it just doesn’t change that it was an impulsive signing from the start.

 

[DuklaNation]

When you hire an inexperienced person, expect rookie mistskes.

 

[dirtydanglez]

he has a lot to choose from. good for him for being able to narrow it down.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

For 51 years. Do I not seem like one?

It's hard to pin them down. Some people I know in my personal life talk about the leafs, obsess about the leafs, etc. They happen to be Montreal Fans.

 

[Killswitch]

Through most of the burke era there was a divided fanbase. The Dubas era was different. There was a minority ages 17 to 22 who watched "Moneyball" too many times. From what I could tell the majority of knowledgeable leaf fans were angry with the cap.structure and the playoff futility. Those knowledgeable fans didn't feel that TOR should have been awarded The Expected Goals Cup.

There's a divided fanbase no matter who is in charge. With Burke it was rebuild vs add to a flawed core, even though there was zero chance he would or the owners would let him. Not to mention the "we need toughness" aspect of his tenure. Between Lou, Hunter, and Dubas we were screwed no matter which way that went down. Lou has honestly never had a plan outside of NJ in the 90's. Hunter liked fridges and maybe he would have been smarter with the contracts but we'll never know because he took his ball and went home. Dubas was literally what you said, moneyball. And to a fault. Smartest guy in the room attitude. He was better suited as agm then and likely for Pitts, now.

 

[Killswitch]

It's hard to pin them down. Some people I know in my personal life talk about the leafs, obsess about the leafs, etc. They happen to be Montreal Fans.

Lived through some horrible eras, but always with a glimmer that never materialized. Sittler, Salming, Clark, Gilmour, Sundin, and now. Lots of bad GMs, but also a few decent ones. Salming and Gilmour have never been eclipsed by any Leaf in my lifetime for what they brought. I'm not a Pens fan and I generally don't feel bad for other teams anyway, but there's something sad about the way this team is going out with him there and seemingly not having a clue what path to take, which is par for course.