Confirmed with Link: Kyle Dubas Not Returning

[Stephen]

Sounds like Dubas wanted to move on from the core, Shanny is the one holding on from all reports.

Dubas was talking out of both sides of his mouth and front and back in his season ending press conference. A GM who doesn’t know if he wants to come back, without a contract willing to trade any and all players that weren’t his to trade…

 

[hamzarocks]

U25
Liljegren
Timmins
Mete
Niemela
Kral
Villeneuve
Koster
Hollowell
Kokkenen

McCabe and Rielly are both U30

Our D is not in bad shape.

You continuously list a pile of shit and pretend its good lol

Mete, Kral, Hollowell, and Kokkonen are nothing prospects/players. They are guys who play 5-10 games a season in the NHL if a team has injuries

Timmins is almost 25 and a guy who isn't able to have relied on continuously, Lilijgren needs to take a step this year, you can't be in your D+7 and be a bottom-pairing defenseman.

The only guys who are promising are:

Lilijgren (ceiling Brodie level player with 35-40 pts if he takes the next step)
Niemela (has some nice upside, despite a poor statistical year in Finland. Ceiling #3D provides puck movement and offense, but is another 2-3 years away from reaching this level) - 40% chance he reaches this level
Villeneuve (some nice potential could be a top 4D but again he is 2-3 years away and needs to continue to improve. He could fizzle and be a Dermott-level player if he doesn't progress.) - 20% chance he reaches his ceiling

Koster is fairly solid too but we don't have him signed yet and he is going into his 4th NCAA season. We will see with him, but he is a pretty good pick

We have Lilijgren + 2 signed prospects with top 4D upside, and 1 unsigned prospect with top 4D upside

The pool isn't crazy deep, like your making it seem

 

[justashadowof]

I can see Hyman being the author.

How Peepers the Near-Sighted Trash Panda Lost His Hubris.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Looks like Dekes is going to have a chat with Burkie who also criticized the contracts given to the 3 amigos.

I don't think Burke agreeing with you would be the positive endorsement of your position you seem to think it is.

 

[rumman]

Until I see it with my own eyes or I hear Shanny state that as fact I dont believe anything anyone is saying at the moment. All conjecture. Time will reveal all.

Not feeling optimistic after the Prez apparently called the 4 elites and assured them not to worry……..

 

[myleafs]

Not feeling optimistic after the Prez apparently called the 4 elites and assured them not to worry……..

Again I dint hear this from anyone who matters IMO.

 

[rumman]

Again I dint hear this from anyone who matters IMO.

I hope your right…………

 

[Racer88]

They haven't been making 11m for 7 years, and you pay them that money because they provide impact consistent with that money. They have had many moments where they've lifted us, despite being in situations where very few if any players could "lift" to the extent that you seem to be demanding. The issue is team outcomes haven't been in our favour, for reasons far beyond just them, and for a lot of people, their perception of certain individuals is more dependent on team outcomes than their actual individual contributions.

You could change nothing about Matthews and Marner's performances, do a different bounce here or there to series wins, and they would be cheered as playoff gods.
Heck, we literally have Tkachuk being cheered as a playoff god because Bobrovsky has given the team success and opportunity the skaters didn't earn, but if a bounce had gone another way in the 1st round, he'd remain one of the worst playoff bums in the league.

None of the above changes the fact that we have 4 forwards making 50% of the cap and all we get is playoff failure and fresh excuses.
too bad our goalie didn’t give us the chance that goalie Bob has given his team.
So team outcomes haven’t been in our favour because reasons beyond them, then my question is why bother spending up that much cap in 4 players if they can’t lift the team up and it’s just random chance

 

[Apex Predator]

Change your name to Excuses for Days.

 

[myleafs]

None of the above changes the fact that we have 4 forwards making 50% of the cap and all we get is playoff failure and fresh excuses.
too bad our goalie didn’t give us the chance that goalie Bob has given his team.
So team outcomes haven’t been in our favour because reasons beyond them, then my question is why bother spending up that much cap in 4 players if they can’t lift the team up and it’s just random chance

When a 2nd yr team (Kraken) with nobody making more than 5 milly can go further and look better than our high priced talent, then maybe we should be taking a wider look at what works and what doesnt. It still blows me away the success Vegas has had in the same amount of time Dubas was gm here and they started from scratch......If these two teams can have the kind of success they have had so quickly then maybe we just arent doing it right.

 

[Stephen]

You continuously list a pile of shit and pretend its good lol

Mete, Kral, Hollowell, and Kokkonen are nothing prospects/players. They are guys who play 5-10 games a season in the NHL if a team has injuries

Timmins is almost 25 and a guy who isn't able to have relied on continuously, Lilijgren needs to take a step this year, you can't be in your D+7 and be a bottom-pairing defenseman.

The only guys who are promising are:

Lilijgren (ceiling Brodie level player with 35-40 pts if he takes the next step)
Niemela (has some nice upside, despite a poor statistical year in Finland. Ceiling #3D provides puck movement and offense, but is another 2-3 years away from reaching this level) - 40% chance he reaches this level
Villeneuve (some nice potential could be a top 4D but again he is 2-3 years away and needs to continue to improve. He could fizzle and be a Dermott-level player if he doesn't progress.) - 20% chance he reaches his ceiling

Koster is fairly solid too but we don't have him signed yet and he is going into his 4th NCAA season. We will see with him, but he is a pretty good pick

We have Lilijgren + 2 signed prospects with top 4D upside, and 1 unsigned prospect with top 4D upside

The pool isn't crazy deep, like your making it seem

As a real life defensive depth chart, that collection of defensemen is something awful.

As a thought exercise, let’s say each one of those defensemen is and will be as good as Timothy Liljegren or Rasmus Sandin as an NHLer. I think that’s a generous starting point.

Now take any 4x of those guys and park them behind Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe… and then imagine them in a playoff series like Carolina v Florida or Vegas vs Dallas and you still feel confident.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Change your name to Excuses for Days.

You seem to be mistaking facts you dislike for excuses.

 

[ToneDog]

I don't think Burke agreeing with you would be the positive endorsement of your position you seem to think it is.

I don't think Burkie is the only person in the hockey community that agrees with my opinion. Sure as hell never going agree with your biased opinion. You've been bailing water for Dubas since September 2018 and you are not fooling anybody. The boat sunk, time to give it up.

 

[ACC1224]

Looks like Dekes is going to have a chat with Burkie who also criticized the contracts given to the 3 amigos. Said he criticized them at the time and reiterated it on Kyper and Bourne today. Worth a listen.

Love him or hate him there is no denying his vast knowledge of the league.
I imagine most NHL execs/knowledgeable fans would feel the same as he does.

 

[Stephen]

Love him or hate him there is no denying his vast knowledge of the league.
I imagine most NHL execs/knowledgeable fans would feel the same as he does.

And what do you think of Brian Burke?

For me, Burke isn’t or wasn’t the kind of GM who could build a comprehensive ground up program for you in a methodical way but I think he’s almost a better GM fit for Toronto in 2023 than he was in 2008. Not advocating or supporting that obviously but he would be a better finishing touches GM.

 

[saffronleaf]

This team is going nowhere without Dubass

 

[rumman]

I don't think Burkie is the only person in the hockey community that agrees with my opinion. Sure as hell never going agree with your biased opinion. You've been bailing water for Dubas since September 2018 and you are not fooling anybody. The boat sunk, time to give it up.

Can you even get to Pittsburgh by boat?

 

[socko]

Burke often gets dinged for the Kessel trade, but I would make that trade today all over again. A 22 year old stud like Kessel for two firsts and a 2nd round pick. I mean that worked out about as good as it possibly could for Boston, but that wasn't a great trade on their behalf. Just plain luck for them.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I don't think Burkie is the only person in the hockey community that agrees with my opinion.

Yes, lots of people in the hockey media community have incorrect hockey opinions. Burke has many. We Leaf fans saw that first hand.

You've been bailing water for Dubas since September 2018

The only thing I've been doing since 2018 is discussing hockey honestly and objectively, with positions supported by the facts, that I openly explain to anybody who requests it.

 

[rumman]

And what do you think of Brian Burke?

For me, Burke isn’t or wasn’t the kind of GM who could build a comprehensive ground up program for you in a methodical way but I think he’s almost a better GM fit for Toronto in 2023 than he was in 2008. Not advocating or supporting that obviously but he would be a better finishing touches GM.

Burke’s ego was his downfall as a GM, he thought he could do a quick turnaround here in Toronto, and we all know how that story ends……..

 

[ToneDog]

And what do you think of Brian Burke?

For me, Burke isn’t or wasn’t the kind of GM who could build a comprehensive ground up program for you in a methodical way but I think he’s almost a better GM fit for Toronto in 2023 than he was in 2008. Not advocating or supporting that obviously but he would be a better finishing touches GM.

Never liked Burke here because of his ego and grumpiness but the guy is no dummy.

 

[rumman]

Burke often gets dinged for the Kessel trade, but I would make that trade today all over again. A 22 year old stud like Kessel for two firsts and a 2nd round pick. I mean that worked out about as good as it possibly could for Boston, but that wasn't a great trade on their behalf. Just plain luck for them.

You don’t ice a cake when it’s still batter, Kessel trade was premature………

 

[Racer88]

When a 2nd yr team (Kraken) with nobody making more than 5 milly can go further and look better than our high priced talent, then maybe we should be taking a wider look at what works and what doesnt. It still blows me away the success Vegas has had in the same amount of time Dubas was gm here and they started from scratch......If these two teams can have the kind of success they have had so quickly then maybe we just arent doing it right.

I’m with you 100% It just kills me to see 2 upstart teams have so much success and us supposedly loaded with these awesome talented players and we flail and flounder in the playoffs year after year, lame excuse after lame excuse.
The next nightmare scenario that’s going to happen is when Dubas has success at his new team because he doesn’t have the nightmare team makeup that he has saddled us with. He will get a fresh start whil we flounder trying to fix his colossal screw ups

 

[socko]

You don’t ice a cake when it’s still batter, Kessel trade was premature………

He was 22. Not 27. He wasn't going to carry a franshise, needed a number 1 center for that, but damn fine player.

 

[ToneDog]

Burke often gets dinged for the Kessel trade, but I would make that trade today all over again. A 22 year old stud like Kessel for two firsts and a 2nd round pick. I mean that worked out about as good as it possibly could for Boston, but that wasn't a great trade on their behalf. Just plain luck for them.

His mistake was not to make it top 10 protected. We get Seguin the following year and who knows where it goes.