Confirmed with Link: Kyle Dubas named President of Hockey Operations

[AuroraBorealis]

FSG may like Sullivan but Dubas is their guy. They went full court press to get him. If Dubas wants Sullivan gone, he'll be gone.

He sounds pretty invested in Sullivan long term. Probably would take a lot of losing to change his mind.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

JR fell bass ackwards into those Cups. It was a miraculous like 18 months of moves with Kessel forcing his way to Pittsburgh and JR seemingly accidentally hitting homerun after homerun before the clock struck midnight, the blind luck ran out, and he turned back into the pumpkin he's been for the other 30ish years of his career.

True, I still believe someone swapped JR’s beta blockers with Viagara and Ritalin during that 18 month span.

 

[Peat]

I'll just point out that FSG probably talked to Dubas about all the assets they believe a lot in and are unlikely to sign off on moving, and made sure he was okay with that, and that if FSG like Sully as much as the media and his contract says, he was probably one of those assets.

 

[Pancakes]

re: Sullivan... honestly I'm close to the point of fatigue even complaining about him. I hate to handwave it but it's just best to hope he figures things out and goes into next season with energy and a willingness to think around some corners instead of plowing headlong into them.

Yeah I'm pretty tired of it as well. I'm glad we finally have something fresh to talk about with Dubas.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I think saying that his player usage only worked with Kessel isn't accurate given Sullivan has had four years of being coach of this team sans Kessel and his player usage got the Pens into the playoffs in three out of four of those years.

His usage works when he has the right players to execute what he wants to do, and fails when he doesn't have those players. Just like any other coach in the history of the NHL. If you have a coach who wants to bury his bottom six in defensive deployments and then give him the corpse of Jeff Carter and Mikael Granlund....yeah, it's not gonna work.

But I do think staleness is a thing and sometimes the message stops resonating with players. And I'm worried that we may be at that point with Sullivan.

Yeah, usage wasn't always horrid. It declined. He started getting too attached to players and letting that dictate his decisions. He started burying his head in the sand when his favorites sucked.
For example his venomous reaction to the media when they were questioning the Dumo-Letang pairing early in the year. He didn't wanna hear reality.
That's what I expect moving forward. That's a big reason why I'd move on. The next coach would give a crap about accountability, at least for a while.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'm not even concerned with this era anymore. JR, Hextall and Sullivan saw to it that it's over realistically.

I'm excited to see how Dubas & Co. manage the transition to the next chapter and go about building/shaping the organization. We're just in a "don't embarrass yourselves for Sid's final years" holding pattern, imo.

 

[tom_servo]

I don't care to relitigate Dubas' work in Toronto but I recall the Kadri trade making a lot of sense at the time. Kadri had a career year and won the Cup but that's an outlier season by a lot. Colorado let him go also.

 

[Pancakes]

I'll just point out that FSG probably talked to Dubas about all the assets they believe a lot in and are unlikely to sign off on moving, and made sure he was okay with that, and that if FSG like Sully as much as the media and his contract says, he was probably one of those assets.

I think it's also fair to say that Dubas is pretty loyal to coaches when he likes them. He stood by Keefe even after the Leafs continued to fail in the playoffs. So if he ends up vibing with Sullivan, we can expect more of the same here. Doesn't seem like a guy with a quick trigger finger with coaches.

Yeah, usage wasn't always horrid. It declined. He started getting too attached to players and letting that dictate his decisions. He started burying his head in the sand when his favorites sucked.
For example his venomous reaction to the media when they were questioning the Dumo-Letang pairing early in the year. He didn't wanna hear reality.
That's what I expect moving forward. That's a big reason why I'd move on. The next coach would give a crap about accountability, at least for a while.

He's always gonna have the back of his players, even Jeff Carter. If you want to know how he truly feels about a player, look at the usage, not the press comments.

And that's when you get the horror when you see oh he really does think that highly of Dumo lol. At least with Carter he gradually lowered the minutes as the year went along.

 

[Power Surge]

I'm not even concerned with this era anymore. JR, Hextall and Sullivan saw to it that it's over realistically.

I'm excited to see how Dubas & Co. manage the transition to the next chapter and go about building/shaping the organization. We're just in a "don't embarrass yourselves for Sid's final years" holding pattern, imo.

We thought the same about Hextall transitioning to the next chapter but something tells me we are in better hands, it's not so bad we failed the way we did to get the needed change.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I'm not even concerned with this era anymore. JR, Hextall and Sullivan saw to it that it's over realistically.

I'm excited to see how Dubas & Co. manage the transition to the next chapter and go about building/shaping the organization. We're just in a "don't embarrass yourselves for Sid's final years" holding pattern, imo.

I just hope it's more fun to watch than last season. That's literally all I want.

I spent most of last year just scanning box scores to see if Sid or Malkin did stuff that night because trying to put time into the actual game was a waste. Plus I mean... Sid and Malkin were the only things worth watching, anyway. There was literally nothing else to recommend the team for viewing.

Those guys are legends and all but it's sad when two pushin' 40 guys are the only things worth tuning in for.

 

[Peat]

Yeah, usage wasn't always horrid. It declined. He started getting too attached to players and letting that dictate his decisions. He started burying his head in the sand when his favorites sucked.
For example his venomous reaction to the media when they were questioning the Dumo-Letang pairing early in the year. He didn't wanna hear reality.
That's what I expect moving forward. That's a big reason why I'd move on. The next coach would give a crap about accountability, at least for a while.

Maybe this is cultural differences, but the idea of a HC who blasts the media for daring to question his players in public regardless of performance is pretty normal to me. You protect your own in public and keep the criticism for behind closed doors.

Given Dumo-Tanger were split up for pretty much all of November and December - and then broken up again in March until Pettersson's injury - he clearly questioned the pairing himself repeatedly.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Maybe this is cultural differences, but the idea of a HC who blasts the media for daring to question his players in public regardless of performance is pretty normal to me. You protect your own in public and keep the criticism for behind closed doors.

Unless you're Malkin, I guess.

 

[Peat]

Unless you're Malkin, I guess.

I don't recall this.

The only player I recall Sully straight up throwing under the bus is Kessel after the 2018 playoffs.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

He's always gonna have the back of his players, even Jeff Carter. If you want to know how he truly feels about a player, look at the usage, not the press comments.

And that's when you get the horror when you see oh he really does think that highly of Dumo lol. At least with Carter he gradually lowered the minutes as the year went along.

I am looking at the usage. There's no accountability. A lot of roles are penciled in before the season starts. You've already heard all the examples I've listed before, so I'm not gonna run through them again.
His press commentary most concerns me in that he sounds so much more worn out and accepting of losing these days than when he came on board. That's totally understandable. It's a demanding job and this was his 8th season. But if the fire is gone, why is he our best option?

I guess there's some hope that missing the playoffs made Sully pissed and he'll get reinvigorated by the front office changes, but we'll see soon enough.
I don't hate him or anything like others here. I want him to succeed, but I don't expect him to.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't recall this.

The only player I recall Sully straight up throwing under the bus is Kessel after the 2018 playoffs.

It really wasn't THAT huge a deal. Only noteworthy because like you said Sullivan never levels public criticism at his players. Which is the correct approach IMO.

But yeah he picked at him post game down the stretch a couple times.

 

[Pancakes]

I am looking at the usage. There's no accountability. A lot of roles are penciled in before the season starts. You've already heard all the examples I've listed before, so I'm not gonna run through them again.
His press commentary most concerns me in that he sounds so much more worn out and accepting of losing these days than when he came on board. That's totally understandable. It's a demanding job and this was his 8th season. But if the fire is gone, why is he our best option?

I guess there's some hope that missing the playoffs made Sully pissed and he'll get reinvigorated by the front office changes, but we'll see soon enough.
I don't hate him or anything like others here. I want him to succeed, but I don't expect him to.

Yeah I am hoping new leadership gives him a shot in the arm. He definitely sounded tired and defeated too often last year.

 

[Peat]

It really wasn't THAT huge a deal. Only noteworthy because like you said Sullivan never levels public criticism at his players. Which is the correct approach IMO.

But yeah he picked at him post game down the stretch a couple times.

I stand corrected then

Tbh they could have been shooting each other last season and I wouldn't have known

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Maybe this is cultural differences, but the idea of a HC who blasts the media for daring to question his players in public regardless of performance is pretty normal to me. You protect your own in public and keep the criticism for behind closed doors.

Given Dumo-Tanger were split up for pretty much all of November and December - and then broken up again in March until Pettersson's injury - he clearly questioned the pairing himself repeatedly.

He sees the truth, just like most people. Hard not to in that pairing's case, early in the year.
The problem is he's so attached to his guys that he's willing to accept bad results for prolonged periods now, to give the players he favors more time to recover. He's worried about their feelings, and his relationship with them.
The urgency to correct problems he used to have when he came here is gone, unless you're players he values less, who get short leashes.

By the time he finally broke them up, a lot of damage was done. His hesitancy probably cost him a playoff spot.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I stand corrected then

Tbh they could have been shooting each other last season and I wouldn't have known

Honestly I wouldn't have even cared if he wasn't stoically ignoring his boys Jeff Carter, Bryan Rust and Brian Dumoulin going out for a free skate every game, bleeding goals and generally not giving a f***. Sure... call Malkin out for playing reckless or whatever. But be even handed if that's gonna be your appraoch.

Sullivan was just generally flustered last season. And IMO didn't react well to pressure. My opinion is that more prep work, energy and trying to get ahead of problems and less auto pilot would have benefitted him. But again I'm kinda past going over all that ground for the billionth time.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Here is how the Calgary Flames did with Brad Treliving as their GM:

2014-2015: Lose in the 2nd round
2015-2016: Miss the playoffs
2016-2017: Get swept in the 1st round
2017-2018: Miss the playoffs
2018-2019: Lose in the 1st round
2019-2020: Lost in the 1st round after winning the qualifying round
2020-2021: Miss the playoffs
2021-2022: Lose in the 2nd round
2022-2023: Miss the playoffs

Leafs fans should be more concerned with the loser GM they just hired to replace Dubas rather than coming to shit talk Dubas here.

So you’re saying Treliving has a postseason series record of 3 Wins - 5 Losses

Doobler’s record is 1 Win - 5 Losses

I am…whelmed.

 

[Power Surge]

So you’re saying Treliving has a postseason series record of 3 Wins - 5 Losses

Doobler’s record is 1 Win - 5 Losses

I am…whelmed.

Give Hangover Stu(my dubas nickname) a break Not even Jesus, Moses, God or EGod can help the Leafs.

Well when Dubas ages another 10 years he's definitely Ed Helms

 

[Power Surge]

He sees the truth, just like most people. Hard not to in that pairing's case, early in the year.
The problem is he's so attached to his guys that he's willing to accept bad results for prolonged periods now, to give the players he favors more time to recover. He's worried about their feelings, and his relationship with them.
The urgency to correct problems he used to have when he came here is gone, unless you're players he values less, who get short leashes.

By the time he finally broke them up, a lot of damage was done. His hesitancy probably cost him a playoff spot.

HE SEES THE TRUTH

You gotta say it like your James Earl Jones

 

[Peat]

He sees the truth, just like most people. Hard not to in that pairing's case, early in the year.
The problem is he's so attached to his guys that he's willing to accept bad results for prolonged periods now, to give the players he favors more time to recover. He's worried about their feelings, and his relationship with them.
The urgency to correct problems he used to have when he came here is gone, unless you're players he values less, who get short leashes.

By the time he finally broke them up, a lot of damage was done. His hesitancy probably cost him a playoff spot.

True

But what NHL coach doesn't give long leashes to the players he trusts most and short ones to the ones he doesn't? To an extent it's part of the job. Walk into a room of guys and decide who deserves the best treatment.

Coach's job is to trust the right guys most.

GM's job is to make it easy for him be giving him all right guys and no wrong guys. I feel like most people here would recognise that Sully had a lot of choices as to the lesser evil last year.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

If they're signing Bunting, it's to replace Zucker.

Oof. Do not want.

The refs hate Bunting, he has a Matt Cooke level rep with them and can’t draw calls anymore to save his life. He is also not very good (lost his top 6 role to Knies the rook in the playoffs).

If you are a woman traveling alone in Canada you 100% WILL get murdered.

By a grizzly, most likely.

 

[Power Surge]

By a grizzly, most likely.

Nah nah nah this all started last night when Aura Bora said living in Canada causes mental health issues.

This caused me to have a man crush on Aura Bora and then he blocked me. I now sad.

What shall I dooo?