What is with everyone’s obsession with Kyle Dubas? The Leafs look like an absolute mess

11 comments

1. Toronto fans are obsessed with him because he locked up their core. But I agree with you. Their contract situation is a disaster. Almost everybody on their team is making too much money

2. I asked the same question in r/hockey after he got canned, and didn’t much of an answer. It seems like he gets a ton of credit for convincing veterans from the Toronto area to sign there under market value, and he gets a ton of credit for using analytics to make smarter processes.

   As I see it, he has a pretty mixed record. There are some undeniably good moves (picking up Campbell on the cheap then cutting him loose at the perfect moment) and some undeniably awful moves (Kadri for Barrie, Foligno for a 1st, etc.)

   Honestly I think that a big part of it is the backlash to the “Old Boys Club” hockey culture. Lots of people were so excited to see old man Lou get shoved out the door for a young guy who wears glasses and says the right stuff about analytics, and now they’ve argued themselves into a corner where everything he does has to be blindly defended.

   To me the real surprise is that he went to Pittsburgh, who seem to be at the start of a steep decline. If I were a hot commodity like Dubas, I would not have chosen that job. But I guess money talks.

3. The Tavares signing was a mistake, the Nylander situation was a mistake, the Marner contract was a mistake, and Mathew’s does not deserve to be paid at Mcdavid level.

   The result was half the team’s salary in 4 forwards and trying to ice 14 other players with the other half. Good players, but just horrific management. That team has been flawed for years now and has 1 playoff series win to show for it.

   This was the prime example I was hoping the devils would learn from. You need a balanced team, not a top heavy collection of overpaid stars. Fuck them, I’m glad they’re failing spectacularly. That whole franchise is insufferable.

4. Dubas was 100% in “win now” mode with very little regard to the longterm.

   However, if rumors are true, this may not entirely be his fault, as apparently Shanahan was very heavy handed in team decisions, so it sounds like Dubas had more micromanagement than many other gms, but it’s hard to tell how legit those rumors are. It has a bit of credibility in that apparently deals he was trying to make at deadline were shot down by Shanahan.

   I will say though, I was absolutely not impressed with the Leafs blue line this season, either. It wasn’t bad, per se, but I definitely thought it was over hyped, especially when you watched them play. I wasn’t surprised the Panthers took them down because it felt like they were gonna steamroll their blue line before the series even started. Even if the rumors he wanted to mix up defense more at deadline are true, it wasn’t the best win now move at the start of the season

   It’ll be interesting to see what he does with the Pens, tho, cause it sounds like he’ll have a longer leash

5. Toronto has been a playoff team for 7 years in a row. He put together a very solid roster, it’s just polarizing to be the gm of the leafs

6. Dubas was the GM for the three highest point total regular seasons in Leafs history. That is one hell of an accomplishment that basically any GM would be immensely proud of. Especially considering how terrible the leafs were for the decades leading up to his tenure.

7. Agreed he’s not bad, but wildly overrated and his obsession in bringing in people from his junior team didn’t help. Also I got lit up on Reddit when I said the Kadri trade was awful for the leafs, but I think I’ve been vindicated lol

8. He made it to the playoffs like 5 years in a row with a cash strapped team and a head office that was committed to controlling his every action.

   In my view, Dubas did an excellent job. Especially considering the Leaf’s cap woes. Year after year, making the playoffs, with a revolving door of 3rd and 4th liners isn’t easy.

   …and the recent playoffs, some of the acquisitions from trades showed up big in the playoffs. He did his homework.

9. he’s not one of the “dinosaurs” that wants to build a team that pounds its way to the cup like Florida and Vegas

10. he screwed up the two biggest negotiations that he had as Leafs GM, Matthews and Marner, but other than that he was a really good GM. I think if Lou stays on one more year to handle those negotiations I think this Leafs team is very different.

11. We also don’t know how much influence Shanahan had on any decisions, so the best or worst moves might not had been Dubas’ choice