Toronto Maple Leafs: Stop Saying ‘Stats Guy’ + Hire Female Executives
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs need a new G.M.
Considering it’s the off-season and there’s a draft, free agency and an entire summer until we get hockey again, this at least makes the off-season somewhat interesting. But what’s with all the bad ideas?
Everyone’s got their opinion on who the GM should be – and most of them are bad. I can’t take another debate about whether or not the Leafs should hire a ‘stats guy.’ Everyone using the phrase ‘stats guy’ needs to stop. Kyle Dubas isn’t a ‘stats guy.’ He is just a guy.
The current defending Champion of all four major sports league’s is a team that (relative to their sport) has invested heavily in analytics. The days when this might go either way are over by a decade. All future sports teams are going to use analytics to make decisions. End of story.
The people who debate against the use of data to make decisions might as well be arguing against the existence of global warming or a flat earth – the facts are in and anyone worth listening to has moved on.
Since this inexorable fact is now monolithic and unmovable, it’s time to adjust your expectations. That means that you can’t call GMs ‘stats guys’ anymore. There are now qualified candidates and dinosaurs. If you’re not a ‘stats guy’ you’re a dinosaur and you’re window for being employed to run a hockey team is rapidly closing.
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‘Stats Guy’ is outdated. Besides which, the term is idiotic. Kyle Dubas is where he is because he was smart enough to politically manage his knowledge that stats help you make better decisions (and his knowledge of those stats) with the current climate of the NHL. Therefore he is the perfect candidate.
Choosing someone who’s older because of their experience is just as misguided as calling someone a ‘stats guy.’ Make no mistake, bad teams might continue to overvalue experience (and traditional scouting), but all of the good teams of the future will be headed by people who understand what stats mean and how they help.
“Good Hockey Guys” need not apply.
Female Execs Needed
Since Kyle Dubas is so young and his hiring will represent a change in philosophy (the NHL’s biggest team hiring a 32 year old ‘stats guy,’ even if that reputation doesn’t do him justice, is going to have a huge impact) I think one of his first moves should be to push the boundaries even further.
The first move Kyle Dubas should make is to hire a female assistant general manager. The NHL is stacked with middle aged white guys who contribute nothing. From Chuck Fletcher to Dave Poulin the NHL is stacked with candidates that have proven time and time again to be completely useless.
Since this is obviously the case, and since Kyle Dubas will be in a position of privilege and power, and since he himself is symbolic of change being ushered in by analytics and young people, I’d like to see him hire the NHL”s first female executive.
Next: Toronto Maple Leafs Round Table
At this point, it’s pretty inexcusable that there’s never been one, and Kyle Dubas should make this a priority. Since he himself is going to start his job lambasted by old, out of date people with no clue about the modern game, why not use the leeway this will provide him (because it will be noisy but no one will actually care what these critics say) to do something for the good of the game.