Kyle Dubas secured the briefcase.
According to James Myrtle of The AthleticDubas’ contract to be the president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins was worth about $40 million over seven years.
Dubas joined the front office of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2015 after successfully serving as the general manager of the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. He served as assistant general manager under Lou Lamoriello for three seasons and was named general manager prior to the 2018-2019 season.
The Leafs had a great deal of success in the regular season with Dubas as the team’s general manager. The 2021-22 Leafs have the highest single-season point percentage in franchise history while the 2020-21 and 2022-23 teams are second and fourth on that list, respectively.
The playoffs were a different story. The Leafs were beaten in seven games by the Boston Bruins in 2019, were shocked by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens in 2020 and 2021, and lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022. The team finally advanced past the first round of the playoffs in 2023. for the first time since 2004 but ended up losing in the second round in five games to the Florida Panthers.
The expectation after this spring’s playoff win over the Lightning was that Dubas would sign a new contract to remain Toronto’s general manager. Instead, the Leafs announced in May that they had chosen to part ways with Dubas. Soon after, news broke that Dupas had sought to remove Brendan Shanahan from decision-making in hockey operations.
Dupas’ new role with the Penguins gives him the independence he’s been looking for in Toronto and may also see him make more money than Shanahan. The Leafs hired Shanahan to serve as chair and alternate referee in 2014 to a Five-year contract worth $2.5 million annually. Shanahan A Contract extension for six years to remain in his role with the Leafs in 2019 but there has been no confirmation as to what he is being paid.