The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that Kyle Dubas will not return next year as general manager
Dubas’ contract was due to expire on 30 June and the club decided to part ways with him.
In a statement issued By Toronto Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan, The Chair and Alternate Governor said:
“I want to thank Kyle for his unwavering dedication over the past nine seasons with the organization, including his last five as general manager. Kyle has fostered a great culture within our locker room and staff, and has continually strived to make our team better season over season. We wish Kyle And his family all the best moving forward and we thank him for his valuable contributions.”
The Maple Leafs also announced that Shanahan will hold a press conference at 3 PM on Friday afternoon.
Dubas has spent the past five seasons as the general manager of the Maple Leafs. The best result of the year came when the Maple Leafs reached the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs before losing to the Florida Panthers in five games.
During that time John Tavares signed, and Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Morgan Riley signed new deals.
He had the best trading date as a GM going all in on the acquisitions of Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Accari, Jake McCabe, Sam Laverty, Luke Shane and Eric Gustafson.
But again, Maple Leaf came up short.
Earlier in the week Sportsnet’s Friedman reported that Dubas was offered a new contract extension following his first-round success. Friedman also noted that prior to this season, the Maple Leafs weren’t sure they would bring Dubas back.
It’s been an emotional week for Kyle Dupas. At his end-of-season press conference on Monday, he was still unsure about his future and wanted to spend some time with his family and talk to Shanahan about what was next.
David Alter from SI.com: Dubas will GM of the Maple Leafs or nothing.
With Dubas out, the focus will be on appointing the next GM and from there, re-signing Auston Matthews.