Kyle Dubas Is Out As Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally won a playoff series, but change is afoot.

Friday morning, team president Brendan Shanahan announced that the club has made the decision to part ways with general manager Kyle Dubas.

“I would like to thank Kyle for his unwavering dedication over these last nine seasons with the organization, including his last five as general manager,” Shanahan said in a statement. “Kyle fostered a great culture within our dressing room and staff, and consistently pushed to make our team better season over season. We wish Kyle and his family the best moving forward and thank him for his valuable contributions.”

Without a contract extension in place, rumors about Dubas’s future swirled all season. But while the Leafs’ five-game loss to the eighth-seeded Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was seen as a disappointment, it seemed like there was an appetite on all sides to continue the relationship until Dubas spoke at Toronto’s season-ending media availability last Monday.

At that time, he shared the toll that his high-profile position in hockey’s biggest and most intense media market had taken on his personal life.

“My family is a hugely important part of what I do,” said Dubas, 37, who shares two children with his wife Shannon. “For me to commit to anything without having a fuller understanding of what this year took on them is probably unfair for me to answer where I’m at. We haven’t been able to have those full discussions yet, but it was a very hard year on them and thus, it’s tough for me.

“What I would say is that I definitely don’t have it in me to go anywhere else. So it’ll either be here or it’ll be taking time to recalibrate reflect on the seasons here. But you won’t see me, next week, pop up elsewhere. I can’t put them through that after this year.”

Those remarks slammed the brakes on speculation that Dubas might be bound for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They dismissed general manager Ron Hextall and team president Brian Burke in April and their new owners, Fenway Sports Group, have shown a penchant for hiring young, analytics-driven managers like Dubas for their other sports organizations.

Immediately following the announcement, it’s not clear whether Dubas made the decision not to pursue a new deal with the Leafs, or if the organization decided independently that it wanted to go in a new direction or couldn’t wait for him. Shanahan should shed some light on this when he speaks to the media in Toronto on Friday at 3 p.m. ET.

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Dubas broke into the business as the general manager of the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League in 2011, at age 25. After three seasons, the Leafs brought him on board as an assistant GM under Lou Lamoriello in 2014. Four years later, he was promoted to general manager.

In Dubas’s five seasons at the helm, the Leafs established themselves as one of the top regular-season teams in the NHL. Pro-rated to account for the two pandemic-shortened seasons, Toronto averaged nearly 107 points per season. In the two years since the league has returned to its regular 82-game schedule, the Leafs have finished fourth in the overall regular-season standings in both years and have now made the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons — tied with the Boston Bruins for the longest active streak in the NHL.

But the club’s lack of playoff success has dominated the narrative. Before this spring, Toronto hadn’t won a playoff series since 2004, and their last five losses all came in heartbreaking fashion, in series that were stretched to the limit.

At a crossroads, the Leafs have big decisions to make this summer. The overriding concern will be Auston Matthews, the 2022 Hart Trophy winner as league MVP. He has one year remaining on his current contract before he can choose to test unrestricted free agency, and he’ll be eligible to sign an extension with the Leafs on July 1 — at or near the very top of the NHL’s salary spectrum.

At his season-ending media availability, Matthews said he wants to stay in Toronto. But he was also believed to be very comfortable with Dubas at the helm. Will a management change shift his viewpoint?

Other contract decisions also loom. Ten members of the Leafs’ main roster from the playoffs are set to hit unrestricted free agency on July 1, according to CapFriendly. Currently, the club has less than $10 million in cap space available for next season with only 14 players signed, based on the current projection of a salary-cap ceiling of $83.5 million for next year.

That has led to speculation that if Matthews stays, one of the other members of the team’s ‘Core Four’ will need to be moved — for salary-cap purposes, and to potentially provide a roster jolt that might get the club to the next level in its quest for a Stanley Cup.

If such a move is to be made, it’s best if it happens quickly. Mitch Marner, 26, has two years left on a contract that carries a cap hit of $10.9 million per season. Currently, he has no trade protection, but a full no-movement clause will kick in on July 1.

William Nylander, 27, has one year remaining before reaching UFA status, like Matthews. His deal carries a cap hit of $6.9 million, and he has a modified no-trade clause with a 10-team no-trade list which will come into effect on July 1.

Captain John Tavares, 33, has two years remaining on his contract, with an $11 million cap hit. Like Matthews, Marner and Nylander, he also expressed a desire to stay in Toront0. He has a full no-movement clause, so he cannot be traded without his permission.

In addition to Pittsburgh, one other GM job is currently open in the NHL. Brad Treliving made a mutual decision to part ways with the Calgary Flames after nine seasons, and interim GM Don Maloney has indicated that he wants to get his new general manager in place before replacing fired head coach Darryl Sutter behind the bench.

It’s not yet clear whether Dubas’s departure will impact Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. But the organization’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, announced changes to its coaching staff on Friday, choosing not to renew the contracts of head coach Greg Moore and assistant coaches A.J. MacLean and John Snowden.

The Marlies were eliminated from the AHL playoffs on Wednesday, in a three-game sweep by the Rochester Americans in the league’s North Division Final.