Maple Leafs Series Win Diminishes the Penguins Chances at Kyle Dubas

The Pittsburgh Penguins may have lost out on their top candidate for next general manager.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have been hard at work curating a list of candidates to take over for Ron Hextall as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ next general manager.

One name that was an early link to the Penguins was Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas who is in the final year of his contract.

Heading into the 2022-23 season, Dubas was yet to receive an extension due to the Maple Leafs’ lack of postseason success.

The Maple Leafs haven’t won a playoff round since 2004 and Dubas has been at the helm since 2018 and has overseen three of the five consecutive first round defeats.

In Game 6 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Maple Leafs finally got their series win.

The victory didn’t just push Toronto into the second round, but it may have earned Dubas a new contract with the Maple Leafs.

Sure, it’s only one series win and the job is far from over for a legit Stanley Cup contender, but that one round might be all that Dubas needed.

Dubas built an extremely talented roster and year after year it was never on the management; the blame always fell to the players not being able to perform at the right now.

Now, with a Maple Leafs team finally vanquishing their demons, Dubas can say for real he’s built a winning team.

If the Maple Leafs were to once again lose in the opening round, the future of many people in that organization would have been in jeopardy.

It was believed that FSG would hand Dubas not only a blank check to take over in the Penguins’ front office, but also the keys to the castle and be more than just a general manager.

Anything is still possible, and FSG might find a way to convince Dubas away from Toronto, but Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Ltd. has more than enough reason to lock him up.

The odds still aren’t 0 that Dubas comes to Pittsburgh, but that Maple Leafs series win forced a huge hit on the numbers.

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