[Friedman] Pittsburgh hires Kyle Dubas as President of Hockey Operations

[Donnie740]

Ohhh my very good source was correct the other day... I posted this is a different Dubas thread that he would be named president in Pitts soon.. now we wait to see if I go 2 for 2 and Spezza will be hired now soon as GM !!

Oh please, be right! Please, because I’d absolutely LOVE to see two clowns like Dubas and Spezza run things into the ground in Pittsburgh.

Then they can hire Bozo the Keefe as coach and form the Three Stooges.

 

[Shoofyou10]

A lot of Leaf fans really liked Dubas. The other half had an irrational hate. IMO, this is an amazing addition for Pittsburgh. But Dubas is putting himself in a tough position given where that team is at.

I dont think the Pens job is as bad as people outside seem to think. Crosby, Geno, Letang may be old but they are still very good and their cap numbers are all cheap for what they give. The top two lines for the Pens were fantastic last year, the problem was the bottom 6 and the goalie. FSG will always spend to the cap and give Dubas whatever he wants in terms of resources. They have 20 mil in cap space this offseason too. The biggest decision Dubas has to make this offseason is in goal and filling out to bottom 6.

 

[Leaf Fans]

So not GM?

No, president of hockey operations.

 

[Dion TheFluff]

Yeah, it became "another team or nothing" as soon as Toronto removed themselves as an option.

Dubas said "toronto or nowhere" while still negotiating a contract, which he didn't have to do. He could have used the threat, even implicitly, that he had other options in order to get a better deal. But he came out publicly and confirmed that he wanted to stay in Toronto and then they still kicked him to the curb for not wanting it enough (lol).

People can disagree, but I see this pretty clearly as Toronto's front office being dumb and making rash decisions based on power structures, rather than talent. Dubas failed to get the team over the top, but he had a lot of success and is clearly a smart, forward thinking, well-liked, well-respected person in the industry. Most people agreed with his decisions at the time, even if they didn't lead to a cup.

I think it's a great hire for Pittsburgh and I don't blame Dubas at all for being open to other options after Toronto let him go. If the Sabres needed a GM, I'd take Dubas over Treliving all day and it's not even really close.

Extremely debatable. Both have their strengths and weaknesses (Treliving giving out bad contracts to support players, and players on the wrong side of 30. Dubas getting taken to the cleaner by core players, some really poor trades (Kadri, Sandin, Marchment ect) and inability to find a consistent and stable goaltending)

Neither has a great track record of success so far. Let's see what Treliving can do with Toronto’s recoures.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Yeah he couldn't put his family through this, it's either Toronto or nothing, he'll take time off to re calibrate you won't see him pop up somewhere else

You wouldn't see him pop up in a week.

Justin Holl to Pittsburgh E5.

He is a pending UFA, so it is possible.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

Apologies to all Pittsburgh fans that you'll now have to hear about this guy during every waking second of your lives.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Most President's have won, either as players or GM's.

Winning as a player matters also - because it shows you know what it takes to win, in the locker room culture, etc.

Yeah Shanny really showed he knows how to build a winning locker room culture in Toronto.

 

[Golden_Jet]

He essentially does, he makes the final call. Just now, he'll have someone under him doing the negotiations and executing his vision. He also can continue to do what he excels at which is building a diverse hockey operation with good / strong divisions.

Probably new GM will want to skip the POHO like Dubas did, for any moves.

 

[LOFIN]

Smart guy.

He took a team who lost in the first round 3 consecutive years before he was GM and traded 3 1st round picks only to lose in the first round 7 consecutive years. He then doubled down and traded another 2 1st round picks in his final year for a second round exit.

He's never proven any success at the NHL level - and now never has to because he's not the GM.

There's very few people who can obtain a high level position with zero results, Dubas seems to be one of them.

You know who else has won 1 playoff round in his last 8 years, lost a franchise player for nothing, gave away a potential Conn Smythe winner, and then gave two monster deals to players who failed miserably to meet expectations? Brad Treliving. So speaking of obtaining high level positions with zero results... Not to mention how Shanahan is still employed by the Leafs with the same (actually worse) record than Dubas...

As for Dubas, this seems like a nightmare job if you ask me. You need to get results immediately in the next two years, then tear it down for a loooooooooong rebuild. Doesn't seem like a nice position for an executive.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Apologies to all Pittsburgh fans that you'll now have to hear about this guy during every waking second of your lives.

I doubt it. There will be the odd disgruntled Leaf fan, but things will die down in a few days.

 

[Channelcat]

Apparently his first responsibility is picking out the drapes for Marios office. Will need approval however.

 

[PenguinTommy]

Who built the roster filled with so many underachievers?

One or two years of disappointing playoff failures is maybe in the players. But when it’s FIVE (5) consecutive years of the same thing, that’s 100% on the GM.

Sorry about your luck, Pittsburgh.

If you have 4 superstars on your team and they do nothingin playoffs, that´s 100% on players.. especially when former 60-goal scorer is your team´s best scorer in playoffs with 5 goals in 11 games.

 

[orby]

I think that the Pens can still be successful with this core - at least to the extent that they make the playoffs and win another round or two before Sid retires - but it will require Dubas to conduct a major restructuring of the team, and the amount of players with NMCs on the Pens roster might make that extra difficult.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

I doubt it. There will be the odd disgruntled Leaf fan, but things will die down in a few days.

I'm not even talking about Leafs fans, I'm talking about the fact that this guy has his agent promoting him through every media channel available at all times.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I think Dubas as President is a perfect hiring...

Shanny shoulda been axed in TO and Dubas shoulda been promoted

 

[Leaf Fans]

I'm not even talking about Leafs fans, I'm talking about the fact that this guy has his agent promoting him through every media channel available at all times.

I don't think that is true.

 

[Byron Bitz]

Terrible day for all those Pittsburg fans who have been going on for years about what a terrible GM Dubas is.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Terrible day for all those Pittsburg fans who have been going on for years about what a terrible GM Dubas is.

Well, most Pittsburgh fan stay on their own board.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

This is starting to make way more sense.
I have no doubt in my mind, with absolutely zero proof, the Penguins basically hinted this to him which shifted dubas from staying in Toronto to going to pens.

Just a thought

 

[pi314]

I dont think the Pens job is as bad as people outside seem to think. Crosby, Geno, Letang may be old but they are still very good and their cap numbers are all cheap for what they give. The top two lines for the Pens were fantastic last year, the problem was the bottom 6 and the goalie. FSG will always spend to the cap and give Dubas whatever he wants in terms of resources. They have 20 mil in cap space this offseason too. The biggest decision Dubas has to make this offseason is in goal and filling out to bottom 6.

This guy gets it.

 

[Egghead1999]

It's better than him being GM and president. I think he can set up some good departments (health, player development, media relations lol), but needs an actual nerd/brainsy guy to do the actual team structure, negotiations, trades, coaching hires etc.

There is only one question, Does PIT have the same deep pocket as TOR? I heard he did a fine job in TOR, in terms of corporate wellness.

 

[LOFIN]

If you have 4 superstars on your team and they do nothingin playoffs, that´s 100% on players.. especially when former 60-goal scorer is your team´s best scorer in playoffs with 5 goals in 11 games.

It is quite funny how the narrative has changed around the Leafs. After the loss, it was pinpointed on the coach and the top guys (excluding Nylander who was actually all right). But after Dubas got canned, now it's back to his roster construction.

 

[Channelcat]

In a stunning move the Penguins have traded Owen Pickering and Joel Blomqvist for Jordie Benn.

 

[brewski420]

Apologies to all Pittsburgh fans that you'll now have to hear about this guy during every waking second of your lives.

Pittsburgh isn't Toronto. Pens not even number one team in city.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

There is only one question, Does PIT have the same deep pocket as TOR? I heard he did a fine job in TOR, in terms of corporate wellness.

FSG seems like they have deep pockets.