Toronto Maple Leafs Announce New General Manager
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Kyle Dubas as their new general manager - less than two weeks after they decided to move over predecessor Lou Lamoriello into a special advisor role.
Dubas is only 32 years of age, but was widely considered a front-runner to eventually take over for Lamoriello. He was hired by alternate governor Brendan Shanahan as an assistant GM in 2014. Following the dismissal of Dave Nonis in 2015, Dubas was briefly Toronto's general manager, before Lamoriello took over three months later.
Dubas was also former GM of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, accepting the position when he was just 25 years of age. Known for his strong knowledge of hockey analytics and fancy stats, Dubas worked his way up from there and now gets to run the biggest hockey market in the world.
The Maple Leafs will have an extremely busy offseason under Dubas, and it'll be interesting to see if he decides to pursue John Tavares - who's been linked to Toronto for a while. The Leafs have a terrific core centered around Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, but Dubas could feel the temptation to chase one of the league's top centres in Tavares.
Toronto will also need to look at upgrading a defensive group that was exposed miserably by the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs. John Carlson of the Washington Capitals is the top name available in free agency, but there is also a trade market that Dubas could dip into.
Dubas will immediately feel the pressure to improve a Leafs team that has made the playoffs in back to back years, only to be ousted in the first round. But despite his young age, Dubas clearly won over the confidence from Shanahan and the other higher ups. The offseason is less than two months away, so he'll be going to work real soon.
