The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Kyle Dubas will not return as GM next season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Kyle Dubas will not return as GM next season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled a massive change on Friday afternoon, announcing that Kyle Dubas will not return to the role of GM after his contract expires on June 30.
Dubas spent nine years in the Leafs organization after initially being hired as assistant GM in 2014 before eventually being promoted to the GM's chair in 2018 following the departure of Lou Lamoriello.
During his time with the Maple Leafs, Dubas certainly left his mark on the franchise, building the Toronto Marlies into one of the league's premier development systems as well as a perennial AHL contender while also bringing professional hockey back to the Maritimes by helping create the ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers.
As Maple Leafs GM, Dubas essentially built the core of the team that exists today. Dubas famously signed homegrown stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander to long-term extensions, pulled off massive in-season trades for the likes of Ryan O'Reilly, Jake Muzzin and Jake McCabe, and signed the biggest free agent of the salary-cap era at the time, John Tavares, as his first-ever move as GM.
Under Dubas, the Maple Leafs qualified for the playoffs in each of his five seasons as GM, ultimately winning their first playoff series in 19 years this season by defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. The Florida Panthers eliminated the Leafs in six games in Round 2.
With Dubas now gone, the Maple Leafs organization is thrust into uncertainly at nearly every level, as his successor must grapple with potential contract extensions for Matthews and Nylander, a number of expiring free agents, and a coach in Sheldon Keefe who is currently on the hot seat.
In related news, the Toronto Marlies announced the team won't renew the contracts of coach Greg Moore and assistants A.J. MacLean and John Snowden.