Kyle Dubas: Keep or Move?

[nutman]

To the people who have said we need another center what about knies,I was impressed, and he reminds me of a young mats. Tavares on his wing would be training at its best.

[Peter D.]

I'd keep him.  Never been a big fan, but he's grown on me.  I think he is continually learning on the job, and I hope he is true to his word that anything and everything is up for grabs this off-season.

I suppose a part of my thinking has to do not knowing just who would be out there that could/would be better.  I like the idea of a long-term GM who is here for decades.

Wouldn't be upset if he was fired or chose to move on once his contract expires.  But I don't mind him seeing this through.

[bustaheims]

To the people who have said we need another center what about knies,I was impressed, and he reminds me of a young mats. Tavares on his wing would be training at its best.

Knies is a winger, dude.

[Bender]

I mean, I've also read most of this thread and who would be the obvious replacement? I don't even know.

[CarltonTheBear]

I mean, I've also read most of this thread and who would be the obvious replacement? I don't even know.

Eric Tulsky, the brains behind the Hurricanes for the last few years, reportedly interviewed for the Penguins GM job. I imagine he'd be a strong candidate for the Leafs if it came to that.

[cw]

I think Matthews will decide whether or not Dubas stays...as silly as that sounds.

I think MLSE have to make that decision in the next few days.

I wonder if he's posturing for a gentler exit in public perception in case the axe comes down.

If it were my decision, I would extend him.

[Leafs Down Under]

Why was it so hard on his family? Just the nature of the job? Or was there something unique to this year?

I imagine that this year in particular he has been all in on the time he has felt he needed to take to maximise the club's performance. Attending away games, having more after hours meetings, etc etc.

I'd suggest he hasn't spent anywhere close to a "normal" amount of time with his wife and young kids. Yes that's part of the job and he gets paid handsomely but with his contract expiration hanging over his head as well I would think it's been a challenging year emotionally as well.

We can all see how passionate he is about the club and their success.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Why was it so hard on his family? Just the nature of the job? Or was there something unique to this year?

I imagine that this year in particular he has been all in on the time he has felt he needed to take to maximise the club's performance. Attending away games, having more after hours meetings, etc etc.

I'd suggest he hasn't spent anywhere close to a "normal" amount of time with his wife and young kids. Yes that's part of the job and he gets paid handsomely but with his contract expiration hanging over his head as well I would think it's been a challenging year emotionally as well.

We can all see how passiomate he is about the club and their success.

Just want to say I like your profile photo.

I wish I had some Tim Tams.  But no Vegemite, please.

[Leafs Down Under]

Why was it so hard on his family? Just the nature of the job? Or was there something unique to this year?

I imagine that this year in particular he has been all in on the time he has felt he needed to take to maximise the club's performance. Attending away games, having more after hours meetings, etc etc.

I'd suggest he hasn't spent anywhere close to a "normal" amount of time with his wife and young kids. Yes that's part of the job and he gets paid handsomely but with his contract expiration hanging over his head as well I would think it's been a challenging year emotionally as well.

We can all see how passiomate he is about the club and their success.

Just want to say I like your profile photo.

I wish I had some Tim Tams.  But no Vegemite, please.

Vegemite is elite.

Tim Tams are over-rated. Iced VoVos are better.

[Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate]

Why was it so hard on his family? Just the nature of the job? Or was there something unique to this year?

I imagine that this year in particular he has been all in on the time he has felt he needed to take to maximise the club's performance. Attending away games, having more after hours meetings, etc etc.

I'd suggest he hasn't spent anywhere close to a "normal" amount of time with his wife and young kids. Yes that's part of the job and he gets paid handsomely but with his contract expiration hanging over his head as well I would think it's been a challenging year emotionally as well.

We can all see how passiomate he is about the club and their success.

Just want to say I like your profile photo.

I wish I had some Tim Tams.  But no Vegemite, please.

Vegemite is elite.

Tim Tams are over-rated. Iced VoVos are better.

Missed those when I was there!  Trip of a lifetime.

[bustaheims]

I mean, I've also read most of this thread and who would be the obvious replacement? I don't even know.

Eric Tulsky, the brains behind the Hurricanes for the last few years, reportedly interviewed for the Penguins GM job. I imagine he'd be a strong candidate for the Leafs if it came to that.

Or a promotion for Pridham. GM options are usually harder to identify than head coach options, because AGMs and other highly qualified guys aren't in the spotlight in the same way. A lot of the top candidates fly under the radar until they start getting interviews.

[CarltonTheBear]

Or a promotion for Pridham. GM options are usually harder to identify than head coach options, because AGMs and other highly qualified guys aren't in the spotlight in the same way. A lot of the top candidates fly under the radar until they start getting interviews.

AGM's are certainly tricky. Some fly under the radar but then some get overrated due to the success of their actual GM (*cough*BriseBois*cough*).

I think if Dubas decided to walk for family reasons then I could see Pridham potentially being a solid candidate to replace him and have some consistency/familiarity in the GM position. But if it's the Leafs who decide to part ways with Dubas then I couldn't really see the logic in then replacing him with his literal right hand man for the past 5 seasons. Like just keep Dubas in that case.

[herman]

I mean, I've also read most of this thread and who would be the obvious replacement? I don't even know.

Eric Tulsky, the brains behind the Hurricanes for the last few years, reportedly interviewed for the Penguins GM job. I imagine he'd be a strong candidate for the Leafs if it came to that.

Or a promotion for Pridham. GM options are usually harder to identify than head coach options, because AGMs and other highly qualified guys aren't in the spotlight in the same way. A lot of the top candidates fly under the radar until they start getting interviews.

Just to expand on what Carlton just said while I was typing all this: General Manager really needs to be a generalist, specializing in managing rather than any one departmental facet. You can see it in businesses that fall apart after they anoint a engineer or top sales associate, or in the case of hockey the top scout or analytics guy, to run the business as a whole. If they don't know how to schmooze and empower their collaborators, then the organization really just embodies the weaknesses of that one person.

Now this is not to say Tulsky would not be good: he has clearly developed a good relationship with the hockey guys and the owner and expanded his team effectively. And I don't know anything of Pridham other than he helped write the CBA, knows his cap mechanics, and got hit by a car. Some people are more effective staying in the AGM lane.

Through that lens, you can see how lucky the Leafs have been with Dubas. He's good at a lot of things, but his key power is finding experts, empowering them as they prove themselves, crediting them by name as often as possible, and blocking or straight up eating whatever feces the media throws back. He is honest, logical, emotionally available, and treats people as actual people.

[CarltonTheBear]

For whatever it's worth ESPN listed 2 people in the Leafs organization in their recent article outlining some top candidates for future GM positions:

Laurence Gilman, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager

When the league needed to create a new set of expansion rules ahead of the Golden Knights' arrival, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly turned to Gilman for help. When asking around about Gilman, the word that continually came up in conversations was "smart." Gilman was also described as "well-connected," which tends to go a long way in NHL hiring practices. He's running the Marlies for Toronto now, but he has a ton of experience as a capologist and negotiator. Gilman was in the mix for the Vancouver GM job last year.

Ryan Hardy, Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager

The 36-year-old Hardy, who got his start as a Bruins scout, was on our list last year, after three years running the Chicago Steel of the USHL. As one respondent said in 2022: "He's got his s--- together. He's a great recruiter, well organized and runs a great organization. Running a USHL team is a tough gig." That caught the eye of the Maple Leafs, who hired Hardy last year to run the Marlies of the AHL.

"He's young, he's bright, he's easy to talk to," one respondent said. "He needs some polish, but he's well on his way."

Maybe Mike Gillis wants to get back into the GM stuff with a Gilman reunion after he didn't get the NHLPA lead. That'd be pretty appealing to me.

I will say I like Dubas and it would be my preference to keep him as GM, but it's not as if he's the only person out there capable of building this team into a Cup winner. I think the biggest pro-Dubas argument might be Matthews' willingness to sign with him more than someone he doesn't have any prior relationship with.

[herman]

https://twitter.com/reporterchris/status/1658438183204319237

Dubas has always brought an uncommon human touch to a job that is cut-throat by nature. He once spent three nights in a New Jersey hospital with Ilya Mikheyev after the player had his wrist sliced by a skate, buying him clothes and other personal effects.

Multiple Leafs openly campaigned for him to get a new contract before heading home for the summer, with Morgan Rielly pointing out that only players were on the ice when the season ended sooner than anyone had hoped.

"I think the world of Kyle," said Rielly. "He's a world-class GM."

"The culture here is as good as anywhere I've played," added veteran Luke Schenn, whose wife was eight-plus months pregnant when he was acquired in a Feb. 28 trade.

"I couldn't have gone to a better spot and that falls on his shoulders."

slighty buried lede

The MLSE board is finally willing to grant Dubas a contract extension after declining to do so last summer, but there's a desire to wrap things up quickly. We're talking as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, according to sources.