Dubas spent three years as the Maple Leafs Assistant GM and has garnered interest from other teamsGETTY IMAGES
Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan said he was "under no pressure from anyone" to make 32-year-old Kyle Dubas the team's next GM, according to Bruce Arthur of the TORONTO STAR, who wrote under the header, "Handing Leafs GM Reins To Creative Dubas Risky Play." Shanahan said, "I was under no obligation to do this. I just really felt, looking at Kyle, he was more than ready and it was the right time.” Dubas becomes the 17th GM in franchise history, and after three years as an assistant GM and four years in the NHL, he has one of the "most prestigious, onerous, responsibility-freighted jobs in all of hockey." Dubas arrives as a "collision between hockey’s past and its future, and its twin poles of thought." Arthur: "So is he ready?" Hockey is an "old-school business, and while he earned some respect" from former Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello after a "difficult start to their relationship, that doesn’t mean he’s ready" (TORONTO STAR, 5/12). THE ATHLETIC's James Mirtle wrote some of the "consternation" among Maple Leafs fans over Dubas' age -- and "by extension experience -- seems to be unique to him." Mirtle: "I’m not so sure it has anything to do with youth, to be honest." A lot of the skepticism "comes back to analytics, and how incredibly polarizing they continue to be in hockey." It was "telling that the word 'analytics' was nowhere to be found in the press release announcing Dubas as GM" (THEATHLETIC.com, 5/12).
BIG MOVE: In Toronto, Dave Feschuk wrote Dubas’ "biggest impending challenge" is managing Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock. It is "expected Shanahan will soon enough find himself mediating disputes between the newly installed GM and the 55-year-old coach." Maybe Shanahan "will be proven right and Dubas will figure out ingenious ways to placate Babcock’s ego." But those are "maybes." What can be said with "more certainty is that it probably won’t be long until the man behind the Shana-plan finds himself pining for the Shana-past." Shanahan's job "just got harder" (TORONTO STAR, 5/13). Also in Toronto, Terry Koshan wrote there is "a lot more" to Dubas than "basing player evaluation solely on analytics." Shanahan was "confident the time to promote Dubas was now." Shanahan had some "subtle encouragement from the fact that other NHL teams," not just the Avalanche last spring, have "come knocking on Dubas’ door" (TORONTO SUN, 5/12).
GOOD START: The GLOBE & MAIL's David Shoalts wrote Dubas "passed his first test" during his introductory news conference. It may "not be the biggest challenge of his new job, but it was an important one." Dubas was "impressive despite his tender years." He "sidestepped the land mines thrown in his path by the media, almost all of whom he addressed by name, another plus with that group, without committing to any specific course of action" (GLOBE & MAIL, 5/12).
