Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan Fine With Timing of Kyle Dubas' Announcement With Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Thursday that Kyle Dubas was their new president of hockey operations 30 minutes before Dubas' replacement in Toronto - Brad Treliving - was to be introduced to the media.
As reporters went down to Scotiabank Arena to talk to new Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, they all got the same news blast on their phones.
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Kyle Dubas — who was dismissed as GM of the Maple Leafs less than two weeks ago — was the new president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins
That certainly took a lot of the attention away from Treliving, who talked about his to-do list, including establishing a relationship with star forward Auston Matthews and figuring out the future of Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
But as Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan was asked about the timing of the Penguins of the announcement, he quickly pointed out that he felt the timing was coincidental.
"I don't think it was intentional. I've been in touch with the CEO of Fenway (Sports Group) Sam Kennedy. He and I are very close and have talked several times about Kyle," Shanahan said. "I think they need to get to work as well. I fully endorse Kyle. I told Sam he'd be great for the organization and I'm very happy for him."
The Maple Leafs relieved Dubas from his duties as Maple Leafs GM on May 19 and Fenway Sports Group quickly pivoted their pursuit for a new leader at the front-office level the 37-year-old.
During his news conference with the media, Dubas didn't thank the Maple Leafs organization, which was notable, although he did that earlier in a statement on Twitter.
Many Leafs fans were upset to see Dubas land a job with another organization after his comments on May 15th where he said he was deciding between coming back to the Maple Leafs or stepping back and that you wouldn't see him taking a job with another team.
However, as Shanahan pointed out on the 19th when he dismissed Dubas from the position, Dubas had expressed an interest in coming back to the Maple Leafs on the 18th. Had Shanahan had a problem with Dubas taking another position, they wouldn't have granted him permission and merely made the Penguins wait until July 1 for him to become a free agent.
"Maybe I was too honest that day with how I was feeling in that exact moment," Dubas said on Thursday.
Dubas did go on about how it was his intention to still take a step back but things changed when the Penguins aggressively pursued him.
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