Kyle Dubas will not be back as GM

[Some Other Flame]

Treliving is available. Leafs should totally hire him

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

He was a great GM but he was a rookie and made some rookie mistakes that cost him. The sequence of events when he signed Tavares to 11m and traded Kadri for Barrie. The Tavares signing jacked up the prices for Matthews and Marner while Kadri was a cheap 2c. Everything else he did was borderline elite GMing. Wherever he goes hell turn that franchise around and probably even win a cup, especially if he learned from his mistakes. Now fans of other teams can finally admit he was a great GM.

He gets shit on for the Kadri trade, but people forget the original trade was Bennett and Brodie but Kadri blocked it.

Regardless it sounds like this is his choice, MLSE wanted to extend him.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

This is still not really saying anything. Can you explain what "taking an approach that no one else sees coming" entails?

What moves were trying to be "the smartest person in the room" or "no else saw coming"? What is this approach's organizational strategy, in concrete terms?

So, Toronto brought on Dubas 8 years ago.

Time was coming for a new GM and it was, essentially between Dubas and a Hunter (Tim?) And it seemed like Hunter had the inside track, as he was also Lamoriello's guy. Toronto decided to go with Dubas and his analytical tactics.

Dubas and supporters of him seemed to think analytics would be the way to go and made it seem like it was viewed as a superior method to just eyes, or a hybrid version.

Dubas and supporters seemed to reiterate this.

"Yeah, the Leafs lost, but the underlining numbers are good !!!"

Then he'd seem to go out and get players based on their underlining, analytical numbers rather than fit.

When it was quite obvious that something major needed to be done, it wasn't.

Needed obvious size and acquired Nick Foligno, which would have been fine a few years before.

Didn't like to spend assets to get players that fit and have control, until this season.

The drafting outside of high, high picks was fairly low end. Didn't add anything to the Leafs with quality depth.

Signed Tavares, which he has for the most part, fit the contract, but not the need of the team. Leafs could have used that for a dman and a forward. Dman at 7ish , forward at 4ish. Now, to go back and look and see who would have been is another story. Granted, that isn't a "smartest person in the room" move, but rather a we got this opportunity and have to take it rather than step back and see if it makes sense.

It could have been he knew his job was on the line, but he finally went out and made some moves that address some of the glaring holes the team had, but it took him this long to do so.

In short,

Media/fans - you need to make a big change

Dubas - nah, I got this.

Media/fans (smaller amount)- maybe you shouldn't sign Tavares to a big contract, nah its worth it.

Media/fans - should probably change the coach

Dubas - nah, we got this.

Will be interesting to see how Sandin does from here on.

Will be interesting to see how Knies does. I liked parts of his game, but didn't like other parts, but that's expected with a 21 year-old coming in at the end of the season/playoffs.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Saying that a 37 yr old's career is not dead is a hot take to you? Do you actually think that's true or are you just being a boring ass troll?

No you just took my comment way too serious like you’re him or his mother lol

 

[Le Barron de HF]

I'd be intrigued by Mike Gillis and how he'd as GM for the Leafs

 

[therocket9]

Wouldn't be surprised if Toronto interviews Cam Russell he has done nothing but win in his hometown of Halifax of course he played his junior hockey for Hull coached by Pat Burns and Pat Brisson was also on that team.

 

[Angry Little Elf]

glad they fired this nerd. Real hockey gms don’t wear glasses. Should hire Mike milbury or Jim benning.

(Sarcasm)

 

[tucker3434]

He was gifted a pretty stout core and never put the polish on it to get it even all that close to a cup. I don’t think he’s shrewd enough with cap space and really maximizing value for the dollar on either core or non-core players.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

I think he's not the greatest in contract negotiations but good at filling holes. His deadline acquisitions this year were good and he assembled a team good enough to compete but the big guys were invisible, which isn't his fault.

He's a decent GM, nothing special but he wasn't the problem this year.

 

[EpochLink]

Jim Benning needs a job yall

 

[Hoglander]

Benning please. hahaha, DO IT!

 

[The Mighty Duck Man]

Why are people acting like this is some kind of huge loss for Toronto? His legacy is winning one playoff series in 6 years...

It happens with a lot of analytics types. To be fair to Dubas, he made some really good moves to keep the hype train going(unlike, say, John Chayka) but we’re still at the stage where simply being an NHL GM that’s big on analytics will make some people automatically assume you’re a great GM.

If/when Eric Tulsky gets a GM job the same things gonna happen. I just hope for everyone’s sake that it’s not in a major market like this.

 

[M88K]

By God, that's Chiarelli's music

 

[Theodore450]

Huge win for a Toronto. He’s a grade A moron that ruined the best core they’ve ever gotten

 

[Dr Pepper]

If they could have, they would have. But they are not playing right now nor are they going to make it to the cup finals.

Right, I get that, but what I'm saying is would the Leafs' brass have been talking extension with Dubas behind the scenes, while Toronto was still playing?

Or would they have just waited until the team's season ended and then crossed their fingers that he wanted to stay? The draft is only a week or two after the Finals ends, I think.

And even then.......I think Dubas DID want to stay. I'm interested in seeing who Shanny (or whoever makes the call) picks as his replacement.

Pridham? Spezza? Some external hire?

 

[AvroArrow]

Treliving is available. Leafs should totally hire him

I think I'd rather hire Sid Seixero to run the Leafs than Trevling.

Right, I get that, but what I'm saying is would the Leafs' brass have been talking extension with Dubas behind the scenes, while Toronto was still playing?

Or would they have just waited until the team's season ended and then crossed their fingers that he wanted to stay? The draft is only a week or two after the Finals ends, I think.

And even then.......I think Dubas DID want to stay. I'm interested in seeing who Shanny (or whoever makes the call) picks as his replacement.

Pridham? Spezza? Some external hire?

Apparently they were talking extension but Dubas insisted on waiting until he talked to his family

 

[8999]

How can this happen when on the Leafs board there was a post about “How Dubas has passed the eye test”

Totally unrelated but it's a well-known fact that hockey fans have poor eyesight.

 

[BCNate]

Dubas made some good moves, but ultimately his commitment to the "Big 4" was his undoing. I have to think that most would consider his time a failure, given what he was handed and the potential that came along with that . 1 playoff win, and 1 (covid) division championship was not nearly enough.

Gonna be interesting from now though. Have to figure Keefe is gone. The team really only has 40 days to decide on Matthews. I'd be shocked if they came back without massive changes to the roster, that could be greta for them, or ultimately be the beginning of the end of this window.

 

[rboomercat90]

From his press conference it sounded like he was already offered an extension? Maybe they pulled the offer off the table after hearing what he said.

I thought his press conference was an attempt at a negotiation tactic. A really bad one too. Kind of explains now how he got bent over so badly by his players. If he goes anywhere else this summer instead of taking time off that’ll confirm it.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I think I'd rather hire Sid Seixero to run the Leafs than Trevling.


apparently they were talking extension but Dubas insisted on waitig until he talked to his family

The way their statement reads though it's the Leafs moving on from Dubas, not the other way around.

Maybe that's just a creative spin when it's Dubas choosing to walk away.

Overdrive is going to be a fun one later today.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Dubas was not the problem, he literally did everything possible to put a winning team in Toronto.

He built a great organization, losing him is a massive blow, no matter how they spin this.

This firing is 100% because of the players underdelivering

This. The one area I'd criticize him for is signing Tavares. It was unnecessary and he overpaid for someone who didn't produce to match the cap hit. That salary kind of made things tight when it came to addressing other areas, largely depth.

Having said that, he did a good job re-vamping the defense and seemed to do pretty good at "bargain hunting" for value.

The biggest reason for Toronto's failure is the stars couldn't get it done when it mattered. I don't know how a GM can be faulted for that other than maybe he shouldn't have had such faith in those stars and dealt one or more of them to bring in a different type of player.

 

[AvroArrow]

The way their statement reads though it's the Leafs moving on from Dubas, not the other way around.

Maybe that's just a creative spin when it's Dubas choosing to walk away.

Overdrive is going to be a fun one later today.

Yeah, from what I read this is basically what it seems like. Leafs were trying to talk extension with Dubas, Dubas needed time. He said he was unsure if he wants to come back or not. After he said that, Leafs organization decided they weren't going to wait for him to make a decision and made the decision on their own.

 

[Bouboumaster]

I hope they go for Bergevin than, 'cause clearly, Toronto fans don't remember wtf is a truly horrendous GM

Either Bergevin, Chiarelli or Benning

 

[Strangle]

So this was Shanny’s decision? Is the “we wish Kyle and his family all the best ….” A shot at the pressed comments?

f***, someone please let me know what the plan is going forward

 

[NobleSix]

The problem is in the room. If theyre going to hire another guy to just come in to swap some depth guys around and hope that solves their issues, they're in for a bad time.

The roster needs a significant shakeup.