Penguins President Kyle Dubas Reveals 'Biggest Mistake' During Tenure as Maple Leafs GM in New Book
The book, written by The Athletic's Craig Custance, reveals stories behind the people who make the biggest decisions within hockey organizations.
Former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, in a new book which comes out on Oct. 15, has revealed what he thought his biggest mistake was while with Toronto.
The book, The Franchise: The Business of Building Winning Teams, authored by The Athletic's Craig Custance, highlights Dubas and the 10 years spent inside the Maple Leafs' organization, plus other stories featuring "hockey's highest ranks."
The now-Pittsburgh Penguins President discussed the free-agent pursuit of John Tavares, which Dubas has no rues about, however, there were some scenarios he would've liked to have changed.
"The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts," Dubas told Custance in the book via Toronto Sun's Lance Hornby. "(William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions."
The 38-year-old also says in the book, according to Hornby, that he spoke to the three of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner about the possibility of signing Tavares and what it could mean for the organization's future.
"The thing I learned was once we signed John to the (AAV) we did, it lifted the lid on the entire ceiling," Dubas said.
Hornby adds that things became complicated between Nylander and Toronto during his contract negotiations when a team spoke about the possibility of offer-sheeting the forward, which then made his price shoot up.
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Nylander signed a six-year, $45.09 million contract on Dec. 1, 2018, right before the deadline, which would've made him miss the entire season had he not signed a contract after that day.
A similar scenario — although not to the same extent — happened with Marner where the forward signed a six-year deal during the team's training camp in St. John's, Newfoundland, in Sept. 2019.
Darryl Belfry, a former member of the Maple Leafs' development staff during Dubas' tenure, says in the book, per Hornby, that things could've been different had the COVID-19 pandemic not happened.
"What would the cap be, $90 million?" Belfry said in the book, via Hornby. "Kyle would never say it, but I will. You have a world shut down, it’s a flat cap for multiple years and you’re stuck holding the bag on a projection. You didn’t miscalculate, it’s an act of nature that beat you."
The book, which also features interviews with current Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, New York Islanders President and former Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello, Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, and other NHL executives, releases on Oct. 15.
You can purchase the book here.
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