TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs are in search of a brand new normal supervisor after the group introduced Friday that it had determined to half methods with Kyle Dubas.
Toronto received a playoff collection this yr for the primary time in almost 20 years. The Maple Leafs eradicated the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier than shedding to the underdog Florida Panthers in a disappointing second-round displaying.
Dubas’ contract was scheduled to run out June 30.
“I would like to thank Kyle for his unwavering dedication over these last nine seasons with the organization, including his last five as general manager,” Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan stated in an announcement. “Kyle fostered a great culture within our dressing room and staff, and consistently pushed to make our team better season over season.”
Shanahan was scheduled to deal with the media Friday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena.
An emotional Dubas, 37, stated Monday he wasn’t positive if he would proceed on as GM, citing the stress on his younger household.
Dubas joined the Leafs in 2014 as an assistant GM at age 28. He managed the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies to a Calder Cup title in 2018.
He took over as Toronto normal supervisor from Lou Lamoriello in May 2018 as a part of a succession plan beneath Shanahan’s course.
The Leafs skilled unprecedented regular-season success beneath Dubas – considered as a younger, shiny hockey thoughts with a forward-thinking method to analytics – over his 5 years in cost.
Toronto set single-season data for wins and factors, and went 221-109-42 in his tenure. Dubas additionally didn’t shrink back from large strikes – he fired Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Babcock in November 2019 and changed him with Sheldon Keefe – however struggled to seek out the right combination within the playoffs till this spring.
The Leafs misplaced to Boston in seven video games in 2019 and fell to Columbus within the 2020 pandemic-necessitated qualifying spherical. The group blew a 3-1 lead in opposition to Montreal in a disastrous 2021 collapse earlier than displaying promise in a good, seven-game loss to Tampa in 2022 that set the stage for final month’s breakthrough.
Dubas supplied unwavering help to Toronto’s so-called “Core Four” of offensive expertise consisting of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.
“As a person, he’s been unbelievable throughout my whole time here,” Marner stated of Dubas after the Leafs have been eradicated by Florida. “Definitely a particular individual to have round. He cares so much for his gamers and his employees.
“Something that we’re all pretty lucky to have.”
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