[Pierre LeBrun] Dubas dit avoir été informé par Brendan Shanahan cet été qu’aucune prolongation n’était prévue pour le moment. Encore une fois, le directeur général des Leafs insiste sur le fait qu’il est d’accord avec le fait qu’ils n’ont pas encore livré en séries éliminatoires. Il est à l’aise d’être jugé après cette saison.
Dubas says he was informed by Brendan Shanahan this summer that no extension was coming at this point in time. Which again, the Leafs GM insists he’s ok with given the fact they haven’t delivered yet in the playoffs. He’s comfortable being judged after this season.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) September 21, 2022
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FutureAnybody
15 Comments
Fair enough
Not loving that it seems like the board is starting to bend to people yelling on social media. I get everyone is frustrated with the first round exits but I’m just enjoying the stability of a generally good team. People forget what came before this and how god awful it was trying to be a fan of this team.
Like it or not, but our goaltending will be make or break. If it’s a disaster Dubas is as good as gone in my opinion. Personally I really like Dubas and I think he’s been great so I hope he gets extended and for the sake of my sanity I hope we struck gold with these new goalies.
The one thing I’m worried about is with new management when Matthews is eligible for an extension. The uncertainty could make him hesitant to sign on the dotted line right away.
Bye ✌🏻
I think he’s done a fairly decent job in his tenure here so far. But there’s some issues out of his control such as Covid destroying the salary cap. His contracts probably would have aged better but alas here we are and they’re a hamstring for signing a topish six winger to compliment the core. When you bargain bin it, you get what you pay for. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.
The goalies will probably be ok this year and they’ll make the playoffs but we really need them to be stellar to advance to the second round. A failure to do so will lead to probably Dubas getting fired and a major shakeup.
Seems risky to gamble your goaltending on those 2 guys in a make or break season for him. Imo Keefe should be gone before Dubas.
It would be ironic if Dubas got let go and the next GM came in and benefitted from a salary cap that actually went up and a farm system that had some call up ready prospects.
I’ve seen Dubas negotiate. We could win the cup and sign him for nothing. Smart move by Shanny.
Kyle Dubas has been at the wheel and built a squad that has resulted in a hugely successful era in Leafs history —- unfortunately, that has been limited to just the Regular Season — and that is what GM’s are ultimately judged on.
He has earned a lot of respect in the NHL circles. He won’t be hard pressed to find another job when his time with Toronto comes to an end. He’s grown up in hockey management, dating back to the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds.
He’s often criticized with the money he hands out during contract negotiations – many blaming him for « giving-in » to the players. Unfortunately for Dubas, the stagnant salary cap, as a result of Covid, has made the situation a lot tougher to manage. The outlook would be fairly different if the salary cap was increasing, even marginally, as it was 2-3 years ago.
One thing Dubas can’t be blamed for is that he does try to change thing up. Everything the team, media, fans and insiders have opined about over the years, he’s strived to address it. Whether it be improving depth on the back-end, adding more scoring to the bottom 9, infusing Leadership to the group, improving goaltending or finding a new voice behind the bench – he’s tried it all.
There is a core 5 that Dubas has leaned on (Matts, Mitch, Willy, JT, and Mo) – and he’s done his part to augment these « All-Stars » with enough talent to compete. And he’s been successful in doing so – it’s no fluke that the Leafs have been one of the best Regular Season teams over the past 4-5 seasons.
However, it all comes down to what you do in the playoffs – and this team has repeatedly let him down. How much blame do the players get? How much blame does roster construction get? How much blame does the coaching staff get? It’s a subjective scenario and the answers will vary – sometimes quite heavily.
Ultimately, Dubas’ future will rest with the Core-5, the leadership and production of the likes of Giordano, Simmonds, Muzzin and Brodie, and also the shot in the dark of betting on Murray and Samsonov between the pipes.
It’ll be a very interesting 2022-23 Season. It’s all on the line for Kyle Dubas. He deserves the ultimate success! Let’s hope the team can finally get over that hump and give him another life-line.
Since Dubas took over as General Manager (2018-2019 Season), the Leafs have achieved the following:
* **Best Regular Season Win % and Points in Franchise History in 2021-22**
* 115 pts
* 70 % Win Pct
* **100 point Regular Seasons – Twice (2018-19 / 2021-22)**
* Only occurred 4 other times in Franchise History
* **Made the playoffs every season (4 for 4)**
* Leafs missed the playoffs 10 out of 13 seasons prior to Dubas
* **Drafted 6 Highly Rated Prospects**
* Rasmus Sandin (2018)
* Nick Robertson (2019)
* Rodion Amirov (2020)
* Roni Hirvonen (2020)
* Topi Niemela (2020)
* Matthew Knies (2021)
* **Signed John Tavares as a UFA – One of the biggest and best UFA signings in Leafs history**
* 274 pts in 280 games with Toronto in Reg. Season
* 14 pts in 20 games with Toronto in the Playoffs
Rinse and repeat
As much as I root for Dubas, I have complete faith in Shanahan’s decision-making and I’ll be excited to see who Shanahan chooses to replace him with, if it comes to that. Lord help us, don’t let it come to that!
Our goaltending will be the hill Dubas either dies on or signs his extension on.
The reason they haven’t delivered imo is goaltending. It’s a shame because I think Dubas is a very good GM but this has been a bit of a blind spot. Hopefully it doesn’t cost him his job.
ugh. lock him up long term. you can’t claim to be process-oriented while holding a contract extension over kyle’s head after the greatest season in team history. the thought of him running any other team gives me major bad vibes.
he and keefe should have jobs for life imo. they’re one of the winningest tandems in hockey history at all levels.
Don’t get me wrong. Championships are the goal.
But when the Shannyplan started a lot of the talk was about building a sustainable winning culture. Not just independent cup runs…but a team that competes, year after year after year.
Dubas has definitely delivered on that, and you can see the moves he makes point in that direction consistently.
So is the board itching for a championship, and abandoning that philosophy? or is this a sign that, while they see he’s done good to get it here, they feel somebody else could follow the same path but one up it.