Except that's not true. We had plenty of cap space last offseason. The new GM decided to waste 17m on Bertuzzi, Klingberg, Samsonov, Kampf, and Reaves - none of which have lived up to their compensation - and trade away quality depth. Thank god our previous GM didn't abandon the future, and instead built up our prospect pool to provide the ELC depth that's currently helping to save us from those bad decisions.
He was an assistant GM primarily in charge of the AHL. He had no control over NHL UFA signings. The price was a result of how horrible that contract was, not the GM.
We likely go after Tavares and trade Kadri after his second suspension, no matter who the GM is, but the more likely outcome if we didn't is: we miss the chance to propel our team into the upper-echelon, takes steps back, our center depth is a joke, Kadri gets suspended every playoffs and sees his value plummet even further as we lose even worse in the playoffs, and we eventually overpay some 30+ year old middle-tier center long-term to play 2C.
His grandfather had coached the team 44 years prior, and his dad had interned, but the idea that he got the job on anything but his own abilities isn't really supported by anything.
And again, I don't really care what the Greyhounds did over a decade ago anyway. I care about what the Leafs do, and what the GMs do when they're here.
Just like any winning team, the Marlies had multiple contributors to their eventual success, but to say that he had nothing to do with it is inaccurate and doesn't change that he had AHL-winning GM on his resume. We didn't have "nothing but bad decisions" previously, and that's why we were able to build and maintain a top tier team through some very difficult situations.
Here is the breakdown of our roster:
Burke - Rielly (re-signed by Dubas)
Nonis - Nylander (re-signed by Dubas)
Lou - Matthews (re-signed by Dubas), Liljegren (re-signed by Dubas), Woll (re-signed by Dubas)
Dubas - Tavares, Marner, Jarnkrok, Knies, Robertson, McMann, Brodie, McCabe, Giordano, Timmins, Holmberg (re-signed by Treliving), Kampf (re-signed by Treliving), Samsonov (re-signed by Treiving)
Treliving - Bertuzzi, Domi, Reaves, Jones, Benoit, Gregor, Klingberg (LTIR)
Our best contracts are a result of Dubas, and while Treliving did well with the cheap deals (Holmberg, Jones, Benoit, Gregor), outside of Domi, the significant pieces signed last offseason have ranged from disappointing to disaster (Bertuzzi, Klingberg, Reaves, Kampf, Samsonov), the lack of cohesive mix has played out as expected, we're left with holes, and that's the real reason we've taken a step back so far, not prior asset drain/cap mismanagement, or because we're finally getting ELC contributions (lol).
