Kyle Dubas is headed to one of the Flyers’ top rivals

Former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has a new home, and he’s joining one of the Philadelphia Flyers’ top rivals.

Thursday morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Flyers’ cross-state rival, hired Dubas to serve as their new president of hockey operations. Dubas succeeds Brian Burke, who served as the Penguins’ PoHO for just two seasons.

Dubas will serve as the Penguins’ interim general manager through July as the club continues its search for a successor to Ron Hextall, who was fired alongside Burke in April.

Dubas, 37, is widely viewed as one of the brighter minds in hockey thanks to his use of analytics and play-driving data. Dubas spent nine seasons with the Maple Leafs — the last five of which he served as Toronto’s general manager.

Despite guiding the Leafs to their first playoff series victory since 2004, team president Brendan Shanahan curiously opted to part ways with Dubas before the expiration of his contract on June 30.

Brad Treliving, formerly of the Calgary Flames, has since been named Dubas’ replacement as Leafs general manager.

Despite the team’s shortcomings in the playoffs, the Leafs have consistently been a regular-season juggernaut since Dubas took over as GM in 2018. Only four clubs — the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and Colorado Avalanche — have won more games than Toronto since the 2018-19 season.

In Toronto, Dubas was trusted to manage the Leafs’ “Cour Four” of Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner. Now, in Pittsburgh, Dubas will work with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang — three of the most celebrated players in Penguins history.

The Penguins are fresh off a disappointing campaign in which they failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and Dubas will now lead the club into its new era while aiming to remain competitive before the inevitable decline of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang.