Toronto Maple Leafs Name Kyle Dubas General Manager
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a plan and they stuck with it.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Kyle Dubas as their new G.M.
That sound you hear? It’s the collective whining of millions of old-school hockey fans who think of Dubas as “too young” and a “stats guy” (a term, which term is no less offensive than when people don’t use the word “of” to follow the word “because” ).
The hiring of Kyle Dubas is a fantastic move by Brendan Shanahan and the Leafs. If there was an opening for any general manager position in the NHL, Kyle Dubas would have been the leading candidate. If you choose any one person to lead your team over the next decade, it probably be Kyle Dubas.
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Young, experienced, intelligent and well versed in the way in which the game is changing, Kyle Dubas is the perfect person to lead the Leafs and their young team into the future.
Widely credited with the Phil Kessel trade, Dubas is primarily responsible for the Leafs getting out of an albatross contract which allowed the Leafs to finish last and acquire Auston Matthews as well as the assets that led to Frederik Andersen. Arguably, he has more to do with the current roster than the outgoing G.M.
And he’ll probably allow his players to have personalities and beards and long hair.
Pressure
The pressure will be sky high on Dubas – maybe higher than any GM ever, since so many of his peers and the writers covering the team will be cheering for him to fail. Jokes on them though, cause they still don’t realize there’s no going back from analytics. It’s here to stay and any team that continues to be run by ‘good hockey men’ shall be crushed under the weight of it’s own hubris.
Kyle Dubas is the best choice, the only realistic choice. Hopefully the Leafs can retain Mark Hunter, but really, who cares? There’s really only one city in the entire NHL where people care who the assistant GM is anyways.
This is a great day for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not just because they hired they guy I wanted them to hire, but also because they didn’t allow this to drag on.
Next: Odds of Each Free Agent Staying or Going
Now it’s time to sign Nylander (and maybe Matthews and Marner). Then hit the NHL Entry Draft and Free Agency.
What’s this mean for the team? The end of Polak certainly. What else? I look forward to finding out. (Not as much as I’m looking forward to Steve Simmons Sunday Column, but close).
Thanks for reading!