7even
Offered and lost
That would require me to spend more than half a brain cell on thinking about the Ottawa Senators
Confirmed with Link: Kyle Dubas Not Returning
- Thread starter Jimmy Firecracker
- Start date
-
Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
- Status
That would require me to spend more than half a brain cell on thinking about the Ottawa Senators
Using terms like "alpha" and "beta" to describe people is cringe as hell.
MCR74
Registered User
- Nov 11, 2022
- 4,170
- 5,041
djdev
Registered User
Bruce Arthur: The Leafs cracked. Replacing Kyle Dubas won’t be easy, but they had to try
Like every Leafs playoff year for decades, moving on with a new GM is a chance at redemption and potential disaster.
www.thestar.com
:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/leafs/opinion/2023/05/19/the-leafs-cracked-replacing-kyle-dubas-wont-be-easy-but-they-had-to-try/leafs_shanahan_dubas.jpg)
Whatever the full truth of it, the pressure is indeed on Shanahan now, after all these years of flying above the weather. Auston Matthews holds the hammer of Thor over this organization, with his no-move clause kicking in July 1 and one year left on his deal. His camp is known to be close to Dubas. The idea of trading Mitch Marner ends July 1 as well, when his no-move kicks in. William Nylander has one year left and a 10-team trade list as of July 1.
There are also 10 free agents, a coach who seems doomed, and so many of these problems interlock with another one. The only things that are truly bolted down are Morgan Rielly, John Tavares (whose increasingly uncomfortable captaincy and role might be a first-order problem in a less uncertain organization), Jake McCabe, kids such as Joseph Woll and Matthew Knies and Conor Timmins, plus Calle Järnkrok for some reason.
Whoever comes in will be under the gun, running a franchise that rivals will see as weakened and under pressure, with stars who can soon decide whether they want to continue to carry the burden of playing for this franchise after all. It’s a hell of a job, with the opportunity to succeed or to die on the rocks. It’s far from clear what happens next.
But what is clear is this organization has cracked.
This year, the relationship between Shanahan and Dubas fractured to a point where they could not negotiate quickly and easily. Whether that was because of the toll on Dubas’s family or a gap in hockey philosophy or simply the pressure of the year, it was clear. Meanwhile, as Pierre LeBrun reported, the well-regarded Jason Spezza, who served as an assistant to Dubas this year, tendered his resignation Friday.
It is clear the staff have cracked. Shanahan admitted people in the organization were devastated by this. Dubas’s relationship with the people he works with is a powerful thing, and one of his great strengths. If his family issues were as serious as he portrayed — and I continue to believe they were — they must have been a significant part of his willingness to return. A lot of people in the organization are now worrying about their jobs.
It was clear this year that the best players on this team cracked in Game 3 of the Panthers series, the game that changed everything, the last stop for the core. When your best players don’t show up for the biggest game of the year, something is wrong no matter what they tell themselves about it.
One other thing is clear, by the way: This Leafs era has been defined by hope as a strategy. Shanahan and Dubas hoped Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander could combine to be a winning playoff core, and the Leafs ran their contracts and the GM’s contract right into this point where the highway turns to gravel, and you don’t know what comes next. Shanahan hoped Dubas was coming back until he wasn’t. Plan B now looms.
What is clear is, the Leafs as we have recently known them are over — that Dubas will no longer define the franchise he and Shanahan have built, and that the end was messy, and that whoever comes in next will shoulder all the pressure that cracked yokes across the organization. The Dubas era of the Leafs is over after five years, and you can argue that it was too soon or too late or both. But either way, the clock is ticking like a bomb.
666
Registered User
- Jun 27, 2005
- 3,305
- 1,062
We're 86 pages in so no ones gonna see this but my prediction is that this will be a mistake. We'll never know but things could get much worse and probably will.
Leaf Fans
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
- 21,341
- 9,311
PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
thewave
Toronto Maple Leafs Toy Co.
- Jun 17, 2011
- 43,476
- 13,950
OMG the media narrative are unreal. You'd think this freaking guy won 4 cups and formed a new Leafs Dynasty. Hard to replace? What the heck was he even exceptional at considering the point of Hockey is to win.
Give me a break
Give me a break
7even
Offered and lost
Leaf Fans
Registered User
- Sep 29, 2017
- 21,341
- 9,311
PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
Nobody said they were moving on until the Shanahan presser today. Dubas said he was contemplating not returning as GM but it was far from certain. It sounds to me like Dubas agent and possibly his wife made a power play for more $ at the last minute when in fact they had no leverage after the round 2 disappointment. However I think it was mostly the strange Dubas press conference that really sealed the deal for Shanahan. IMO Dubas has another offer on the table.
binop7
Registered User
- Jul 4, 2011
- 5,072
- 946
Don't worry Dubites. You can still take credit for the team's success going forward as you can claim Dubie built the "Foundation"
666
Registered User
- Jun 27, 2005
- 3,305
- 1,062
I remember, Lou, Nonis, Burke, Fletcher, Ferguson, Quinn, Dryden, Watters, Smith, Stellick, McNarmara, Gregory and non of them won the club either.
djdev
Registered User
Morgs
#16 #34 #44 #88 #91
Yep, but in the end the players are the ones that matter. Winning is great, but as we hear all the time, sports are a business.
Trapper
Registered User
- Nov 21, 2013
- 24,658
- 12,825
This organization needed a kick in the stones.
It became so complacent with yearly excuses, run it back, wear your Mickey Mouse shirt and hold hands for 5 playoff games won after 7 years.
Now it’s finally getting interesting again.
PromisedLand
I need more FOOD
Precisely! Tailor made for success that he botched completely.
Neither will he be given the same financial leeway he got with the MLSE.
Morgs
#16 #34 #44 #88 #91
No it's not. And players have more choices about where they're going to play than ever. College players like Fox basically demanding two trades? Tkachuk? Eichel? Happens in the NBA all the time, only a matter of time.
Jokes because wasn't chicken little right in the end?
- Status
