Dubas will not return as Leafs GM

[blayze]

I like Dubas, but he overplayed his hand here.

I negotiate for a living and this type of stuff happens all the time. You have some leverage, you push a bit too hard, you nickel and dime, you grind them down and at some point you reach that tipping point where the perception of you shifts from coveted asset to greedy bastard and the other side just walks.

[dejeanneret]

Meh. If I'm Dubas, I'm glad I'm out of there.

It's possible he overplayed his hand, sure. It's also possible that his counter is really more a commentary on the job. I negotiate for a living too. Sometimes, a counterparty really doesn't know the value of something (including him/herself) and wildly overshoots. Other times however, a high counter/demand is a reflection of how unpleasant the task at hand is and "this is how much it'll take for me to be willing to do it."

If I had to guess, it's more the latter scenario in this particular situation. Particularly given Dubas' prior comments on how difficult things were for him and his family this year.

[2014olympicgold]

Dubas took tips from marner and Matthews on how to negotiate clearly

[butch]

Meh. If I'm Dubas, I'm glad I'm out of there.

It's possible he overplayed his hand, sure. It's also possible that his counter is really more a commentary on the job. I negotiate for a living too. Sometimes, a counterparty really doesn't know the value of something (including him/herself) and wildly overshoots. Other times however, a high counter/demand is a reflection of how unpleasant the task at hand is and "this is how much it'll take for me to be willing to do it."

If I had to guess, it's more the latter scenario in this particular situation. Particularly given Dubas' prior comments on how difficult things were for him and his family this year.

I agree with this assessment as well . He's going to get offers though so his ''not popping up anywhere next week'' comment will probably be turned into a meme at some point. The Toronto sports media will learn quickly if teams are asking permission to speak to him before his leaf contract expires.

[hockeyrobot]

Pittsburgh. Complete autonomy for a full rebuild. That would allow him to keep a GM role while also giving him a few less stress years before anyone wants them to be competitive.

[loppantorkel]

I think he'll take a one year sabbatical and then take over the team now known as the Coyotes. Seems much more fun than what Pittsburgh would bring you the next 5 years.

[butch]

Pittsburgh. Complete autonomy for a full rebuild. That would allow him to keep a GM role while also giving him a few less stress years before anyone wants them to be competitive.

this is my guess as well (pitt , full autonomy , surround himself with his crew)

or my second guess from an islander pov - works with Lou in an advisory role and learns all things ''islanders'' for a season with an eye towards becoming GM with Lou getting kicked upstairs

[Invictus]

Jason Spezza, who became a special assistant to the general manager following his retirement, resigned from his position with the team as well.

[Pengwin7]

Dubas for me... is the anti-Bettman.
He's cool, well-mannered, calm, attractive, composed.
Bettman stumbles, looks like a troll, is abrasive with his words.

Push their looks aside.
Push their tones aside.
Put them in a robot body and let Alexa be there voice.

Bettman is very good at his job.
Dubas was OK at his job. He really didn't have any insanely tough tasks and really didn't make any insanely "great" moves, IMO.
I think TOR people give him way more credit than he deserves because of his perception (visuals).

It was time to let him go.
I never saw the pieces he added as being the right fit for a playoff run.
(Playoffs being distinctly different from regular season - where simple "total value" is enough to put up points against the 31 different opponents.)

He's a good GM, because the team is regular season STRONG, - just not a great GM, because the playoff pieces didn't fit, IMO.

(The downside here, for Leafs fans - is that I do think, on paper, will be STRONGEST team in East next year. And if/when they do that without Dubas/Keefe - the "new guys" will look good. So will Shanahan. But they still have to find the right guys for the playoff match-ups... and that's almost solely the responsibility of the GM.)

[The Comish]

I thought Dubas did a decent, if not very decent job in a tough market. I'm pretty confident he'll land on his feet and show what he can do with another franchise.

[Belexus75]

this one just smells funny....everybody thought he is gone based on results if they didnt win first round....but i dont think this dismissal is based on results as much as not seeing eye to eye going forward...I know Shanny said way more than we normally get ....but im pretty sure he didnt say the most important things which we dont know what they ware...i think problems lies deeper than we are told.....but who really knows..

[DangerCat]

Dubas for me... is the anti-Bettman.
He's cool, well-mannered, calm, attractive, composed.
Bettman stumbles, looks like a troll, is abrasive with his words.

Push their looks aside.
Push their tones aside.
Put them in a robot body and let Alexa be there voice.

Bettman is very good at his job.
Dubas was OK at his job. He really didn't have any insanely tough tasks and really didn't make any insanely "great" moves, IMO.
I think TOR people give him way more credit than he deserves because of his perception (visuals).

It was time to let him go.
I never saw the pieces he added as being the right fit for a playoff run.
(Playoffs being distinctly different from regular season - where simple "total value" is enough to put up points against the 31 different opponents.)

He's a good GM, because the team is regular season STRONG, - just not a great GM, because the playoff pieces didn't fit, IMO.

(The downside here, for Leafs fans - is that I do think, on paper, will be STRONGEST team in East next year. And if/when they do that without Dubas/Keefe - the "new guys" will look good. So will Shanahan. But they still have to find the right guys for the playoff match-ups... and that's almost solely the responsibility of the GM.)

It’s the way with anyone involved with the Leafs. While they’re there there’s not a better man for the job and as soon as they leave they were garbage. Truthfully I love this comment. This is unpopular but I actually Like Gary Bettman. He is doing what any CEO of a company does - expand business, cut costs and make a bigger profit. He’s running it as a business man should and I respect that he doesn’t care that the whole league and their fans seem to hate him and yet he goes about expanding the league bringing it to new places and so far mainly having fantastic success (Arizona aside). I mean two expansion teams from the last 5 years both made the playoffs and had full buildings of screaming fans - I mean that’s pretty fantastic. He does seem to neglect Canada and I do wish he’d give more thought to a Quebec Nordiques revival but from a numbers standpoint I see why it’s not high on his list. Dubas is really nothing like Bettman. I don’t see him as having a spine. He looks like the prototypical millennial with lots of education and minimal life experience that can be intimidated into doing what others put pressure on him to do. Not saying he wasn’t good but he had some nice pieces to work with.

[Feenom]

Shanny wants him to know that he’s the boss. If Shanny offers him a new deal and he didn’t take it then Shanny takes it off the table. Money talks and Dubas walks. Personally I would get rid of Shanny before Dubas but them the breaks. We will be saying bye bye to Keefe soon too.

[random-d]

Toronto and NYR lost for the same reason imo. They built teams to sell tickets. Obviously selling tickets does not equal winning but hey, they sold tickets while it lasted.

[butch]

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status...990906369?s=20

Pit expected to ask permission to speak to Kyle