It Boggles My Mind He Still Has A Job
Kyle Dubas Is A Lame Duck GM
As of right now the Toronto Maple Leafs current general manager, Kyle Dubas, has been performing his duties as active GM with no guarantee he will be the person in charge next year, having been denied a contract extension in the offseason.
That makes the Toronto Maple Leafs GM a lame duck: someone who's in the final year of his contract without an extension in place.
In sports it is generally frowned upon to have a lame duck GM in charge, as someone who's job is on the line doesn't think about the future of the team, they only think about saving their job.
So smart organizations, who have smart employees they want to keep, extend their coaches and managers prior to the last season of their contract in order to discourage short-term job saving moves.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did not extend Kyle Dubas this summer, despite the team setting new records in points and points percentage the last two years.
So, with all this success, why is Kyle Dubas on the hot seat?
Record Breaking Playoffs Failures
With the Toronto Maple Leafs seemingly set to repeat last season's record breaking regular season success, the question why Kyle Dubas is a walking lame duck right now can only hinge on one thing: the fact his team keeps losing in the first round of the playoffs every year.
Breaking regular season points records means diddly squat when the team is breaking playoffs records by going out in the first round every time for six years straight.
Dubas knows full well he is on the hot seat and why. At his press conference in September he said so himself, admitting: "The reality is that I fully acknowledge we haven’t gotten it done at the end of the season."
It is this unprecedented level of failure that has put Dubas into the lame duck position he finds himself today.
Kyle Dubas Will Not Be Returning
Not if they don't win a couple rounds in the playoffs he won't be.
The fact Dubas still has a job is only because the Toronto Maple Leafs president of hockey operations, Brendan Shanahan, who apparently doesn't have a clue how to run a hockey team himself, is buying into whatever crud Dubas is selling.
A real snakeoil salesman proper, Dubas tells us that he would like to be evaluated on his full term as GM. If that was the case he definitely won't be coming back. He's lucky Shanahan, if it will even be Shanahan making the decision, is ONLY going to be judging him on the results of the playoffs this year.
One thing operating in Kyle Dubas' favor is the fact he has earned a well deserved reputation as a players GM. With Auston Matthews contract needing extending this summer, Dubas might be the best person for the job. He's just dying to give Matthews more money.
We all know he wants to.
Having said that, sports is a results oriented business, and the results simply haven't been there yet. If the Leafs don't win a playoff round this year, it will almost surely mean the end of the Kyle Dubas era in Toronto. The heads need to start rolling.
The ones that floated their way to the top would be a good place to start.