Kyle Dubas Out as Leafs GM, a Look at His Time at the Helm 

Better commentary and breakdown than TSN and Sportsnet combined , thank you sir

Out of everything that could have happened, this wasn't what i expected. I hope they dont think a simple GM change will make the difference, players need to be moved

crazy I just meet Dubas and got a picture in florida after game 4. hope nothing for the best to Dubas.

I hope Dubas enjoys a year off with his family and gets time to reflect what went well and what went badly in his Toronto tenure. Some NHL team will give him a second chance.

Dubas was not the problem for the leafs. He tried his best to give the team everything it needed to succed year in year out. It's not his fault the players implode when it matters the most.

Hard result for a guy who was still learning. Core 4 were signed for way too much for sure… but I don’t think he could have anticipated how bad they would fail in the playoffs. Their curiously weak playoff play is more on them than him.

He built a nice structure. They can definitely build on that. I can't wait to see what he does next.

He was a great GM in the sense that he improved overtime, cared about everyone in the organization, and helped keep the Leafs competitive despite the pandemic disrupting things. Having said that, the bottom line is his teams did not win in the playoffs and it's time for a different perspective

I love how the Panthers are just leaving carnage everywhere 😂

I feel bad for Dubas, okay as bad as I can feel as a Canucks Fan, but he really really did some miracles to get this team loaded up,... just for them to not deliver... so good luck to the next GM; though I assume that this also will mean that Keefe will be out (and thats something I understand fully)

After hearing his last presser, it sounded like he needed a break. Aside from his moves within the team, he was a great ambassador in the community. As a Leafs fan, I'm left wondering if others will leave. Like Chris Johnston said on the SDP, if Dubas leaves, Keefe probably leaves, too. Dubas will definitely be back in the NHL at some point. It'll be interesting to see what this team looks like in October.

After his comments earlier in the week at the locker clear out it was clear he knew he was gone. Very very classy exit BY him, he handled it very well. Love him or hate him you can't take that away from him. Best wishes to a guy who obviously loves and values his family as he does, pass him some shades... his future is bright.

From an outside perspective, being a Pens fan who was hoping Dubas would be coming here after how badly Hextall messed up the team, there was a lot to like about what Dubas did in Toronto. He saw to it that the team had everything it needed to be a winner. Very aggressive kinda like how Jim Rutherford was as Pens GM. He was always moving pieces around to build a team to win it all. Were there some mistakes or risky moves that just didn't pan out? Yeah there are few, like him rolling the dice on goaltending the last few years. But were there lots of good moves he made? Absolutely especially getting O'Reilly, Schenn and Accicari. It just seemed like no matter what he did, Toronto just couldn't figure out how to get over the hump. At the end of the day, I think his overall roster construction was solid. Remember the GM isn't on the ice, so its up to the players to perform when it matters, and Toronto just hasn't done that.

My father was always fond of saying "trying and failing is always better than never even trying." Whatever his successes in the signings and trading department... and let's face it; you're always going to have a few stinkers.... the one thing you can say about the guy was that he was never scared to try.

Dubas was the best GM we had since Cliff Fletcher. A great guy who made it clear he wanted to win no matter what. His passion for the game is unmatched. He made blunders along the way, and he had to get rid of Lou's mess (Marleau's contract + the 1st that became Seth Jarvis) which arguably didn't help things, but he was a GM you WANT on your team. Young, talented, and now he's more experienced. I will miss him.

This is a long time coming. Toronto’s problem has been the coaching! There is no way a team this good chokes like this on multiple runs with a good coach. Keefe should’ve been let go after that brutal Montreal loss.

Your work ethic is incredible man. This was a fantastic breakdown by someone who knows what they’re talking about. Very refreshing. I come here way before I go to the mainstream sports sites because this is the kind of educated breakdown I like to see. Been a subscriber (in some form or another) since your very early days and you just continue to impress. All the best to you man, keep up the great work

Dubas is being made the fall guy, all of his decsions haven't worked out but no gm is perfect, I'm predicting the Leafs will drop a good 10 points in the standings next season

Always appreciate your insight and succinct analysis - excellent job in breaking it down !!

His loyalty to the big 4 may be one of the big reasons he's gone. He wouldn't do what needed to be done

Dubas was probably elevated to GM too early IMHO. As with all GMs, he made his fair share of mistakes, some of them were rookie mistakes in his case but overall he was a good GM who learned from his mistakes. He really did care about the job and the team he put together. I wish him well in his future GM position wherever that is.

As a Leafs fan I’m massively disappointed. Anyone looking at this organization and saying he was the problem are fucking insane. Seemed like the Leafs wanted him back but his family probably didn’t. Really too bad

Another great video. Much better analysis than the networks on TV. Thanks again.

great video and commentary, as usual. i look forward to your analysis more than that of the TV panels

Being married to the core was his downfall. We need our next gm to be a stone faced assassin ready to make any move to win a cup

I won't say it's a shock...his last press conference was very emotional and the way he talked about checking with his family meant it could have gone both way....That being said, finding a new Gm will not be easy, or more precisely finding the right GM. What do you focus on ? Culture or pure assets management...The next month will be crazy !

Your where I come for my hockey news and “real” talk. Your the best Shannon

The Tavares signing continues to be his biggest blunder, and has crippled the structure of the team ever since

I thank Dubas for his time with the Leafs he helped the Leafs a great deal be the team they are and come from where they were. They will benefit from a new voice. LETS GO!!!! big offseason for the team

Fantastic report!

I would think that a big challenge for a general manager, in these days of metrics and statistics, is to evaluate what numbers from the regular season translate to the playoffs. I can't remember a year when there is such a difference for individual players from regular season to playoffs, and we're only half way through the playoffs.

I think that Dubas was the best GM at gaming the salary cap, but had a huge blind spot for understanding that defence generally wins championships. If he'd had more focus on goaltending and defence early on, the Leafs wouldn't have been in the mess they were in during the last few seasons. I don't blame the goalies that the Leafs had. I blame the manager that put the fate of the team in the hands of backup goalies every year.

Excellent analysis HG!

I agree 100% with Shannon that the Leafs needed to beef up the blueline instead of getting Tavares.

GOOD ONE! Thanks.

Dubas had his chances in Toronto, and it's just didn't work out as he expected. No one knows what to expect this Leafs team next season, but for sure, the fans is going to come back to buy the tickets, and happy owners is the only sure thing. We will see...

Love your commentary

Luv the jersey w the orange NHL logo🔥

I am so happy today. It was about time!

Now he can spend that quality time with his family that he was talking about lol

Greatly appreciate your take on this. I don’t think any party is without blame in this. Players first and foremost for not getting it done. Dubas second for drastically overpaying marner. And shanny third for overseeing the 11 mil thrown at JT (the real issue with this team)

2 things can be true at once. He made all the moves needed at the deadline and he also spent a lot of assets to fix his own mistakes. I would have preferred him staying after the pure skill growing pains. He will do very well somewhere eventually

Dubas tried his best. I believe some Leaf’s top players can’t take the heat when it matters the most!!!

Good for Dubas and his family. I love it when someone will take a step back and do what is best for the most important people in their lives, their spouses and children. I dont think Dubas was the issue and the fact Toronto is so incredibly brutal on the players and club they so love. The fans kind of suck the joy out of what is an amazing team. Think most fans fail to realize 29-31 teams, depending on the league, ultimately fail to secure the ultimate prize. Think most fans also fail to realize that all of these people they heap unrelenting hate and disgust towards are also human just like themselves. Like they are setting out to fail in order to infuriate and already irrate and I will add UNDESERVING fan base. Really kind of a sad state of our society.

He traded all their draft picks away 5 years in a row to win 1 round. Great job! I can't believe they didn't promote him.

Dubas should have no problem landing another job IMO.

For me Dubas while he made good trades was horrible in the signings he made. Giving Auston a 5 year deal at 11.6 is insanely bad, and had Lou stuck around for these contracts they would have been different, added to that him sticking to the core 4 year after year was a major downfall for him too because after that Montreal series one of them should have been traded, now it has to happen and I think Leafs ownership and Shanahan do not believe Dubas will pull that trigger.

I just saw your video which said the Leafs are in a holding pattern, and now this 😂

Damn dude you’re fast on this stuff lol

honestly, this seems like a really poor choice. As a sharks fan, we’d be lucky to have him. not that I dislike Grier, but Dubas did everything he could.

13:46 surprisingly the leafs actually have quite a bit of cap space this summer, around 15M.

How did Shanny survive???

I think there are too my hockey psychologists here who have all the answers. I believe in this team as it is. Just because you did not win in the past does not mean you cannot win in the future! It took Alex Ov, more than 10 years to win a cup. Some super stars never do. Not cause they suck. So many variables are at play. Injuries, puck luck, officiating goals that you score but get called back for some BS reason etc.

The Hockey Guy uploading a video just as relevant news breaks is actually neither a trope nor a meme.

Best case scenario is, Tavares waiving his no trade

You need to make a video on Brendan Shanahan's press conference because the info given in that presser changes EVERYTHING.

The contract was done and given to Dubas right after game 5. Dubas then proceeded to waiver in his commitment by saying he wasn't sure if he was going to come back. At that point he was gone. You cant be half in as leaf gm.

I thought they should've kept Dubas, initially (because of the decisions he made this year). But he let the same story continue after five straight years of first round exits without moving anyone from the core, allowed music in practices, and contributed to the overall softer culture with all of these decisions, and the reasons why players on the team don't care and can smile at the end of the playoff post-game pressers while McDavid/ Draistital are in damn-near tears in theirs

I think he matured as the leafs gm, he made a lot of mistakes early that sunk us from growing more (the contracts with Matthews marner and Tavares) but as he went on he got better. I think he’ll be great with this experience just sucks that it didn’t work out here

4 teams left now and no player makes over 10.1m a season. Signing this many over 10m was a huge fail. Lesson learned.

The Canucks need a GM like Dubas bad.

As a Sabres fan I wish the high rolling Dubas stayed on with the Leafs. Trading out Toronto's future and handcuffing the organization by overpaying some stars with bloated contracts while Buffalo builds steadily through the draft suited me fine. I really liked Kyle. What a shame.

The Jets should do everything they can to try to get him

im an outsider to the toronto fan base, but i really think his downfall was signing tavares. if he would have continued to draft well and build from the draft they would have continued to improve year after year. his bold moves every year and trading all his picks, and trying to make every year the year just spelled his doom. instead of a steady growth, trying to push every year above and beyond just capped them out and left them no wiggle room.

As usual a gutsy opinion Shannon. I thought same thing at original hiring. Completely agree with assessment. Poor personnel decisions were made. Defense & Goaltending wins championships. Not overpowering offense.

There is a difference between the type of team that can win the President’s Trophy and the type of team that can win the cup. For a potential seven game series against a single opponent, a very specific strategic plan can be implemented. Star players can be more easily neutralized with very specialized defensive match-ups. During the season you must work on the offensive talents of your own because defence has to be generic; you are playing a new team almost every second day. Also, tough banging play wins big dividends in a series because the hurt you delivery early benefits you in all the later games of that series. During the regular season hurting your opponent only softens them up for that other team that plays them next! In the regular season, your side has to combat tough play by having a strong power play stacked with star shooters. The reason is that you must score within the same game where you just got roughed up. In a series, playing tough and banging the opponent pays off in all the subsequent games of that series. The team that wins the Stanley Cup needs to be a team built for playoff series hockey. It doesn’t need to win the President’s Trophy- it just needs to make the playoffs!

Big Sens fan but have had utmost respect for the way Dubas tried to construct the Leafs lineup. His calculated risks were well worth taking even though they did not work out as well as the Leafs fanbase were hoping for. Overall, I would give his GM work an A- grade. Possible criticisms: (a) Overpaying on the Tavares contract and (b) Not being aggressive enough on getting a top line goalie over the years (but particularly not being aggressive enough over the last 18 months or so).

End of an era for the Leafs, very highly esteemed Soo Greyhounds alumni couldn't get the job done after winning at every level below the NHL. Such a shame it didn't work out in Toronto.

Dubas, early on, like a kid in a candy shop, tried to buy a Stanley cup with those big money signings. Later on, when reality set in and he was reeling, he tried to remake the rest of the team. Much to the delight of many, it blew up in his face...

I'd love to see him in Ottawa.

He came out as a winner in that shouting match against TBL fans. 😂😂😂😂

When your top guns go cold, then you're screwed. At the end of the day, the responsibility does fall upon the GM. He wasn't ready for this position. The issue is, not many are.

Probably the right time to part ways. The team has a lot of big money deals coming up and given the team's performance it makes sense to have a fresh set of eyes look at the roster. I actually don't mind the idea of walking his RFAs to free agency because it opens up a window to win provided you can maximize those cap savins which they didn't do a bad job of. The fact he didn't get playoff performance from the core 4 is in hindsight a problem, however, when those deals were signed it wasn't obvious this team would be a playoff flop

Totally going to Pittsburgh. Or maybe Calgary?

Looking at the results, it is hard to thank Dubas. But I sure as hell am going to miss him as my teams GM. Can only wish him the best of luck in the future because I know this guy has what it takes to build a contender. Just sad it didn't work out here

The saga continues, thought Dubas did a solid job as GM.

best news ever i'm so happy hallelujah

@The Hockey Guy who do you think of any and all potential candidates will be Kyle Dubas’s replacement as the leafs gm? Also in your opinion, what do the leafs need to do in order to win a stanley cup and end their drought?

I am mostly a Bolts fan( 1st) but also a Leaf's fan (2nd) and I am sorry to see him go. Social media as well as the constant fan criticism that all the players and coaches and management experience is so toxic in Toronto that I think it makes it difficult to succeed or even function. Tampa had a very successful season in 2019 and not just lost, but got swept 4-0 to Columbus in the first round. A lessor talented team at the time coached by Tortorella.? A a fan base ,we only felt bad for the players. No one got fired and there were only negative comments from other areas as to how bad that was. Here in Tampa, the feeling was pretty much "we'll get them next year'. We felt bad we lost, but we felt worse for the players that tied to hard to win and didn't. We felt bad for them , not us. This in not an gratuitous comment, it is how we felt because they tried so hard and lost the series. No-one felt they let us down because they didn't. The Leaf's did the same this year. They had a great season. They did better than they had for years but the fans would could not take the 2nd round loss. And now Dubas is gone and whoever get it next my do worst ? And now start all over ? It is just too toxic. I can't imagine anyone wanting that job. Good lord ? I hope for the best.

The leafs will regrets this move. I dont see Matthews staying now. So leafs need to trade him NOW. He will walk like Johny T and Johny G. Might as well trade Marner as well, cant see him wanting to re up either. I still think the fallout between Dubas and Shanny, was the Tavares signing. I dont think he was on board with that move from the beginning. Multiple years of failure most likley came to a head this past summer withing things boiling over between the two. I have said it for decades. The GMs in Toronto are nothing more then puppets doing the boards bidding. I fully agree with Chris Johnston, leafs should of resingned him last season, and Dubas will go on to being one of the best GMs, and presidents in the modern era. My hockey gut is still telling me he will end up in Pittsburgh as President and GM. Maybe not this summer but by mid season. I can see the Pens plugging in an interm from within and persure and intice Dubas fully. I wish Dubas all the best and thank him for his hard and smart work.

Look how Zito worked miracles. Florida had 122 regular season points (Leafs 115) got beat early; Zito dumps Huberdeau’s 105 points (more than Marner or Willie have ever had) and Weegar and gets a gritty winner=Tzachuk. Zito played at an elite level and was around hockey for decades. Dubas has no idea which end of the stick to hold. I say go sign John Cooper as GM. Smart (a lawyer) and a resume second to none.

hahaha do you gotta make another after the Shanny press conference?

The o'reilly deal also included mikhail abramov who is a decent prospect too

That was quick - Did you have that in the can?!

I feel like we should keep the guy who got us across the line.

One of his first deals set the template. Nylander had him flying back and forth to Europe to swing a deal then Dubas caved when it came to the wire. Probably didn't help having Babcock breathing down his neck. That deal proved to the others that he was an easy touch. This years deadline was horrible too. He was early with a blockbuster then a few old hands like Holland traded for one big piece and Dubas started scrambling and shaking up the team.

thought Dubas brought together the help the leaf's needed to make a great push as a blue jackets fan got to have secondary teams love watching the leaf's and will next year also big four didn't deliver enough but seriously how often does this work out Toronto fans should be grateful they have a great team delivering a lot of wins very exciting

It's kind of funny to look back before the playoffs when most of Leafs Nation was saying that as long as they make it past the first round they will be happy.... That Florida series pretty much blew up this organization. I wonder if it would have been different had they played a bit better and lost in 6/7 in a competitive series, rather than going down 3-0 immediately.

I gotta say, Dubas did a “just okay” job in Toronto😂😂😂. #WereAllFriendsHere

I like how they waited until ypu posted the video to announce it😂

He did a pretty good job at drafting outside of the first round.

I saw this coming a mile away. As a leafs fan, Dubas did better than any other GM in recent Leafs history, but he was far from what the Leafs needed to win the cup. Let him go, FIRE KEEFE, break up two of the four core and lets go harder next year.

I always thought Shanahan was the problem with the Leafs as he was a disaster with the NHL players association (IMO). Dubas would definitely get another job when he is ready. Passionate, compassionate, and smarter than anyone else in the organization.

Not a Leafs fan but Dubas did a pretty good job there in my view. They seemed a well run team with a consistently strong roster. Most of the trades seemed good value for the Leafs and their drafting seemed good too. I guess the overpayments for Tavares and Marner probably made it tough to compete in the playoffs. Basically I've said nothing new here. Year off for him maybe to let his brain recover from the intensity of the job, then maybe a team like Columbus or Pittsburgh could use him from 2024. Or even the Flames.

the john tavares signing doomed them but overall i think he did the best with what he had to work with

It's funny that Dubas very first move - signing Tavares - is the one move that ensured the Leafs would never have a chance at a Stanley Cup. That was such a boneheaded move.

A long time coming and this, to my mind, had to happen, probably last year. But it has happened. I think Dubas will be better at this in his second job. There were some critical mistakes early. I sort of think they decided this on the fly because they don't have someone lined up. They didn't lock up dubas but didn't have some one queued up. The biggest mistake was John Tavares. Was that thrust upon him? They signed him instead of the defensive help they needed. I think the organization should have tried to lock Nylander up quicker for 7 for 7. They didn't, they played hard ball and then they gave in. They needed to get at least a year of UFA for the $11 million they gave to Matthews. The only virtue of the $11 million for Tavares was I thought they had set a max salary for the team. Sandin for Gustaffson and a 28 draft pick, was crazy. Adding Tavares accelerated the run for the cup. their window narrowed and I think they are on the downward limb of their curve with this group. How can they pay matthews more for what he does? He's a great player he's not the second best or the third best or the fourth best player in the league. He is a top twenty player. Should have hung on Andersen. He with a good net mate is the best goalie they had in a while. Everyone saw the murray mess coming. This hasn't worked and they need to get back to a hard reboot. Hovering around in the playoffs without being able to win is useless. Nice look at where they are.

Pittsburgh bound

Have you ever done a vid on the NET cap and how it affects the salary cap? This video exemplifies the disregard for the negative impact the NET cap has on Canadian teams and also how Dubas is the best GM in the league. No other GM could have done what he did with how little money Toronto actually works with.

I couldn't imagine playing for Toronto. The preasure from the fanbase and media is crushing. No thank you.