Brendan Shanahan initially wanted to keep Kyle Dubas in place

The Leafs ended their “marriage” with Kyle Dubas earlier today.

As a result, team president Brendan Shanahan was asked to appear before the media to comment on the situation and provide details on what’s next. The general conclusion?

It really seems that it was Dubas’ press conference earlier this week that “forced” Shanahan to make the decision not to offer him a contract extension.

Remember, Dubas had said it was Toronto or nothing… And that led Shananan to think that the main interested party was perhaps at the end of his rope.

After seeing Dubas speak publicly Monday, Shanahan began to think he might need to find a new GM. “He might not want to be the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

– luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) May 19, 2023

Dubas expressed his desire to remain with the Leafs in an email this week…

And, it gets intriguing when we hear Shanahan say that after the deadline, he told his GM that he wanted to offer him a contract extension.

Basically, the two men had much the same vision and both wanted the same thing.

Things changed, however, when Dubas’ agent asked the Leafs for a salary increase.

This simply meant that Shanahan was satisfied with his work… but wasn’t ready to bring him back at any price.

Another curveball in the Dubas/Leafs situation: Brendan Shanahan says he got an email from Dubas on Thursday night indicating he wanted to stay on as GM. However, Dubas’s agent had also come back requesting a pay bump on the #leafs offer, per BS.

Shanahan then fired Dubas.

– Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 19, 2023

Brendan Shanahan doesn’t mess around with the puck, obviously.

Personally, I get the impression that his decision was made in advance. Yes, it’s true that Dubas looked very tired when he appeared before reporters earlier this week, and yes, it’s true that his current condition could be a bit detrimental to the Leafs’ organization.

After all, the former GM seemed to have no energy left and didn’t seem to want to give in to all the media pressure in Toronto, which is to be expected.

In the end, the matter remains unclear.

In fact, if Shanahan really wanted Dubas to stay on, I don’t think he would have refused to offer him a bigger contract.

Unless we’re talking about an outrageous salary increase, that is.

Pierre LeBrun tried to contact Kyle Dubas to get his side of the story, but Dubas refused to speak to him at this time.

There will be a time and place to do so,” says the former Toronto GM.

Kyle Dubas respectfully declined to comment when I reached out just now. There will be a time and a place for that, he said.

– Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 19, 2023

The next step for the organization will be to find a replacement for Dubas, and everything should change fairly quickly in the coming weeks.

Especially considering that in the next month and a half, there will be the NHL draft and the opening of the free-agent market.

,En

– Good point.

Going into the season with a lame duck GM never ends well, see Bergevin and now Dubas. Doubt you see teams doing that anymore.

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) May 19, 2023

– Alex Ovechkin is on KHL Honors Night.

René Fasel, the newly appointed head of the KHL’s refereeing committee, is seen at the KHL’s award ceremony. Fasel to the left of RHF president Vladislav Tretiak. Alex Ovechkin is one step away, left of Fasel. pic.twitter.com/28oOdeVOEK

– Szymon Szemberg (@Sz1909_Szemberg) May 19, 2023

– Really?