The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that Lou Lamoriello would not be returning as general manager next season.
Lamoriello stepped in as Toronto Maple Leafs GM prior to the 2015-16 season and he did a great job. He took a team that came last in his first season and turned them into a playoff team. Although he brought along his old-school traditions, the most notable being the no-facial hair rule, he served his time as GM and he was very good at his job. It was reported by Pierre LeBrun of ESPN that the initial deal was for Lamoriello to serve as Leafs GM for three years and then as Senior Advisor for the next four.
Of course the question surrounding the Leafs now is who takes over as GM? Do they go with somebody within the organization or do they hire somebody else from around the league?
Well, in my mind, there’s only one real option that makes sense for the Leafs. And that’s Kyle Dubas.
Dubas’ Resume
Dubas has had a very exciting path to where he is today. He’s a young, bright mind among Leafs’ brass and he’s been doing everything he could to get to where he is today.
Dubas attended Brock University in St.Catherines, Ontario, graduating in Sports Management. While he was in school, he worked as a scout for the Sault St. Marie Greyhounds, his hometown junior team. And at the unusually young age of 25, he was appointed as general manager of the Hounds.
Known for his skill and tremendous ability at evaluating young players and prospects, Dubas created a Greyhounds team that finished first in the OHL Western Conference in four out of the six seasons since he was appointed as GM. They’ve also consistently made the conference finals in each season since then. During this time, he also appointed Sheldon Keefe as their head coach, who now serves as head coach for the Toronto Marlies.
Well, Dubas didn’t last too long at the helm of the Hounds. Why? Because in July of 2014, he was hired as assistant GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Dubas in the Maple Leafs Organization
Since then, Dubas has been a pivotal member of Leafs’ management. He specializes in team improvement through analytical statistics and has also served as GM of the Toronto Marlies. After the firing of Dave Nonis in April of 2015, Dubas shared co-interim GM duties with former London Knights executive and current Director of Player Personnel, Mark Hunter.
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Heading into the 2015 NHL Draft and the offseason, the Maple Leafs still didn’t have a general manager, so they allowed Dubas to handle trades and let Hunter take care of the scouting. Dubas would make some very good moves, including trading down in the draft and turning a late-first round pick into multiple later round picks. These later picks would eventually result in players like Travis Dermott and Jeremy Bracco. On July 1st, he would trade Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh in exchange for a haul that would include Kasperi Kapanen and a first round pick, which would be traded to acquire Frederik Andersen.
Of course, Dubas wasn’t the only mind behind these moves. They were likely all reported to Brendan Shanahan before the official call was announced, but for the most part it was Dubas who gathered the information and brought the trades together.
But really, when all is said and done, the clear best option for next Maple Leafs GM is Kyle Dubas. His young mind fits the narrative of a quickly-changing NHL where speed and analytics are relied on much more, and he’s been with the team ever since they tore it down in 2014-15 and started fresh. He’s been the GM of the Toronto Marlies and has gotten the chance to closely watch and evaluate numerous prospects who could end up being key parts of a future Leafs team, and he has a management mastermind in Lou Lamoriello to shadow him and advise his moves.
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The only other option I could see the Leafs considering is Mark Hunter. But Hunter specializes in scouting and drafting, so it would make more sense to let him focus primarily on that front and let Dubas run as general manager. Regardless of who the other options are, Dubas is the best choice in my mind.