With his contract set to expire at the end of June, the general manager got emotional when reflecting on the season and said he has to consult his family before deciding his future. Dubas added he will not entertain another front office position with another team.

Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas stepped up to the stage to wrap up a long day of exit interviews. Before taking questions, he openly discussed his current status with the club. He is set to meet with team president Brendan Shanahan and the owners of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in the coming days, but the final say will go to his family.

"It's been a taxing year on them and that's very important to me," he said. "My family is a hugely important partner in what I do. So, for me to commit without having a fuller understanding of what this year took on them is probably unfair of me to answer," Dubas said. "I wish I can give you more but I haven't had those discussions yet, but it was a hard year on them."

Dubas just completed his final year of a five-year contract as GM of the club. He went into the season without an extension in hand and there's no doubt that this year was big in the overall evaluation of his tenure. His team finally won a round for the first time in 19 years but subsequently fell in Round 2 in five games to the Florida Panthers.

The pressure on Dubas to see his team succeed this year was immense. During the playoffs, the GM had several outbursts, including yelling back at Tampa Bay Lightning fans who were disparaging Toronto fans and Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly. 

"Whether I should or shouldn't I'll leave that to you all to decide. I thought it was the right thing to do in the moment. I don't know if my language was appropriate for this position," Dubas said. "It's Morgan Rielly, it's our fans. They are passionate and I am as well. 

As far as family is concerned, Dubas traveled to almost every game, home and road, with the Leafs, spending a significant time away from his family. It's not different than past years, but perhaps it finally took a toll.

And while there had been speculation that Dubas would be hired by another team had MLSE decided to go in another direction, the GM re-affirmed that he's not interested in joining another organization.

"I definitely don't have it in me to go anywhere else," Dubas stated. "So it'll need to be here or it'll be taking time to recalibrate and reflect on the seasons here. You won't see me pop up elsewhere next week. I can't put them (my family) through that after this year."

Dubas' future isn't the only one in question after this season. Team president Brendan Shanahan was not by his side as was the case in previous year-end availabilities.

"I'm responsible," Dubas said. "I don't need anybody else to shield with me."

Shanahan is expected to hold his own media availability with reporters in the coming days. 

Sheldon Keefe's job as head coach is also under scrutiny. But Dubas said no decisions will be made until the dust settles.

"There still to me has to be a full evaluation of everything and a full and conclusive answer on that to do so right now would be hasty," Dubas said when asked of Keefe.

If this ends up being the end of Dubas' tenure in Toronto, he leaves with an impressive regular season of 221-109-42. Before becoming GM, Dubas served as an assistant GM, one of Shanahan's first front-office hires, back on July 22, 2014. But it's the lack of playoff success, that by his own admission, bothers him the most. And that includes the narrative of finally winning a round this season.

"I've never viewed it as that, I always viewed it as we're trying to win four," he said.

If Dubas does depart the organization when his contract expires on June 30, the bigger question is who would take over?

Auston Matthews expressed his desire to remain a Maple Leaf on Monday. But the direction of the team will play a significant role in that.

The next few days will be interesting.

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