Daily Faceoff: Frank Seravalli on the future of the Toronto Maple Leafs and GM Kyle Dubas.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Tyler Yaremchuk: “What stood out most to you about what Kyle Dubas had to say and does this maybe change your thinking about what can happen at the GM position for the Leafs here?
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Seravalli: “It’s doesn’t really change my thinking. I mean, we’ve had, we’ve learned two really important things. You touched on them but to highlight them for everyone; one is, we know that Kyle Dubas isn’t going anywhere else. At least according to him.
And two, we also learned, at least I learned, and that I reported this evening that, the Toronto Maple Leafs, they want to have him back. They made overtures to Dubas over weekend. When he took the podium on Monday afternoon, he knew that the Leafs wanted to have him back.
So, it’s not like he was sitting there pleading for his job or stating his case or anything like that. They’ve let it be known to him that they want to have him back.
You’re right, the hard right turn that was surprising was, the family part that I don’t think that anyone truly grasped and/or didn’t know. Cause I think it caught a number of people by surprise, in and around the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. So, that part I think really opened some eyes.
So, it’s the Leafs want Dubas back. Dubas isn’t going anywhere else, but does Dubas want to keep working for the Leafs. That was the curveball that really kind of surprised everyone.
I wonder what’s connected to that though. You heard him make an impassionate plea for Sheldon Keefe. So I wonder if that could be part of it. I don’t think it’s a financial leverage play or negotiation tactic, because if you’re family truly is and he seemed to get emotional, if your family truly is stressed out, I believe he makes $2.5 million right now. If you’re making $4 (million) or you’re making $5 (million), it’s not going to make your family any happier. He’s going to be a wealthy man regardless.
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So that part I think you can push aside, but I wonder about Keefe, and the other thing I wonder about is the autonomy. When we mentioned before and talked about the friction that has been there at times between Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas.
Brendan Shanahan’s been focused on a lot of things other than hockey recently. Dealing with a lot of business side stuff for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But at the end of the day, as team president, he’s always held the hammer and veto power.
