Kyle Dubas admits his biggest mistake in his time as Maple Leafs GM
Photo credit: NHL.com
In an excerpt from a book by The Athletic's Craig Custance, former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has admitted his biggest mistake in Toronto.
Kyle Dubas had his supporters and detractors during his time in Toronto and many of his moves were criticized no matter the eventual outcome.
After being fired by Brendan Shanahan last off-season, Dubas joined the Pittsburgh Penguins and recently revealed his biggest mistake and regret when he was GM of the Leafs, and as The Sun's Lance Hornsby wrote, it wasn't the John Tavares contract, but the other aspects that surrounded it.
"The biggest mistake I think I've made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts," Dubas told Custance. "(William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions. The thing I learned was once we signed John to the (AAV) we did, it lifted the lid on the entire ceiling."
By lifting the ceiling, it seems Dubas is referencing the exuberant cost to eventually re-sign Matthews, Nylander and Marner after Tavares had signed.
It's not rocket science and Leafs fans everywhere have said from the beginning that not getting the trio to at least sign for eight years was the worst thing he could've done. That brings us to this off-season with Marner and Tavares eligible for extensions and Matthews and Nylander having theirs kick in, leaving Brad Treliving with little wiggle room.
Could you imagine if Dubas had gotten Matthews and Marner well in advance of the Tavares deal? It may very well have saved the Leafs an extra $3M combined had Dubas gone after both players on 8-year deals prior to bringing Tavares in at his $11M.
It seems Dubas hasn't exactly learned from his mistakes in Toronto as he has continued to hand out big contracts and no-trade clauses to aged players in Pittsburgh in an attempt to chase another Stanley Cup for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Source: Toronto Sun
Leafs' Notes: Dubas admits biggest mistake
Leafs' Notes: Dubas admits biggest mistake
| POLL | ||
12 JUILLET | 547 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas admits his biggest mistake in his time as Maple Leafs GM What was Kyle Dubas' biggest mistake in Toronto? | ||
| Not extending Matthews and Marner before Tavares s | 99 | 18.1 % |
| Letting Zach Hyman walk | 285 | 52.1 % |
| Trading all of his draft picks for aging veterans | 155 | 28.3 % |
| Other | 8 | 1.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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