Should Brendan Shanahan just be the new GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Kyle Dubas now gone, Brendan Shanahan is tasked with finding a new General Manager to lead the Toronto Maple Leafs into perhaps their most important offseason yet. With the draft and free agency just a few weeks away, a decision must quickly be made on who will be chosen to make draft picks, sign free agents, and most importantly of all, negotiate the extensions of Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
Having all that on the table, one has to wonder if the best person for this job is in fact Brendan Shanahan himself.
A single individual taking over the role of President and GM of a team is nothing new, quite a few organizations including Carolina, Nashville, St Louis, and both New York teams already do so. Running a team this way allows the General Manager to instill their vision with little resistance, as no separate President of Hockey Operations will be around to veto their moves. With recent news of Brendan Shanahan stepping in to block a trade that would have seen Matthew Knies traded to Chicago last season, this seems especially relevant.
Part of Kyle Dubas’ demands during contract negotiations before talks broke down was increased pay and a request for full control without any oversight. Since we know MLSE has more money than anyone could possibly spend, it seems safe to assume that it w …

Read More

Author: Filipe Dimas / The Leafs Nation

The timeline of events that led to Kyle Dubas’ firing from the Maple Leafs, plus the questions that remain

Maple Leafs President Brendan Shanahan sat at the podium inside Scotiabank Arena, and for 11 minutes, told his side of the story which led to the firing of Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas on Friday.
To say this was a bombshell of a press conference would still be an understatement nearly 24 hours later. Though as I read the quotes from Shanahan over and over again, I am still left thinking: “How did something like this get ruined so quickly?”
Below is the full timeline of events. I want to preface this by saying this is all on the account of Shanahan. Multiple reporters have reached out to Dubas for comment, but he’s elected to stay quiet, saying: “There will be a time and a place for that,” per TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun.
Summer of 2022: Shanahan told Dubas that he wouldn’t be offered a contract heading into the final year of his current deal. The hope from Shanahan was that, “after being judged for that full five years of his contract,” Dubas would be extended.
Mid-March 2023: Shanahan approached Dubas in his office at Ford Performance Centre. Shanahan said that “he had seen enough in his mind” to bring back Dubas going forward. Dubas took time to think about it and came back saying he was “comfortable” moving forward and that his agent would contact Shanahan.
End of regular s …

Read More

Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation