Kyle Dubas Publicly Addresses What Handcuffed the Maple Leafs During the Core 4 Era
Photo credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
During a recent podcast appearance on the Cam and Strick Podcast, former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas revealed what really handcuffed the team during the Core 4 era.
During Kyle Dubas' lengthy tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team certainly had its opportunities to go far, only to fall flat on their faces -- most notably against Columbus in the Playoff Bubble during COVID-19, and also their epic collapse against Montreal in the North Division in 2021.
As a result, Dubas had taken the brunt of a lot of the criticism. As the captain of the ship, Dubas has been vocal about how deserving he is of the criticism. He admitted as much during his final end of season presser in Toronto before he was let go.
A lot of fans also blame the Core 4 for failing to execute during the postseason. Some also blame Sheldon Keefe for not doing a better job behind the bench. However, during his appearance on the Cam and Strick Podcast, Dubas was clear in that he doesn't blame Keefe or the players for how things unfolded. He largely blames COVID.
"I don't know that they handcuffed [us], because they were all good players -- the thing that handcuffed [us] was the salary cap was flat. So we basically used a template of what a lot of the other teams had done that had the fortune of having a lot of high picks on the team, and then we had added John [Tavares] in free agency in 2018, and then during that first year of all of the extensions, there was obviously COVID, and in order to keep the league rolling, the league and PA worked together and the cap was flat throughout the rest."
Dubas did also admit that other teams dealt with the same issues and experienced better results. He revealed that the Leafs' management group failed to adapt and surround their stars with the right pieces.
"That's life. No one could have predicted it and we just had to adapt. I think in some cases, we adapted poorly, and then kind of after 2021 and then the expansion draft, and different things in free agency, we started to become much better at identifying what we needed to support the group... I don't think it's on [the Core 4]. It was on us to make the right decisions around that group of players... I don't point to any one situation or one thing, but we didn't get it done, and that's as simple as I can put it, probably."
Dubas is now charged with overseeing a full rebuild in Pittsburgh that could see him deal some or all of Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin and perhaps even Sidney Crosby.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 12 | 1452 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas Publicly Addresses What Handcuffed the Maple Leafs During the Core 4 Era What do you think handcuffed the Leafs in the Dubas era? | ||
| Core 4 contracts | 832 | 57.3 % |
| Flat cap | 315 | 21.7 % |
| Defense | 148 | 10.2 % |
| Goaltending | 157 | 10.8 % |
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