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Kyle Dubas named Penguins President of Hockey Ops

4EVRLEAFAN said:
Pens win the Cup before we do, if we ever do...lol
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Again, the Leafs won many Cups before Pittsburgh was even in the league.

Hisytory really did not begin the day you were born.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
4EVRLEAFAN said:
Pens win the Cup before we do, if we ever do...lol
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Again, the Leafs won many Cups before Pittsburgh was even in the league.

Hisytory really did not begin the day you were born.
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Sorry, If we ever do, "again" LOL
 
Guilt Trip said:
OldTimeHockey said:
While the statements by Dubas during his press conference are pointed to as items that swayed the Leafs and Shanahan to move in another direction, I think what the press conference actually did was connect the dots on why Dubas was throwing water bottles, arguing with fans and overall seeming a little unhinged during the playoffs.
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Heard an interview with Burke and this was mentioned. His response was basically I'd be right there with him lol.
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Yeah, from Burke it is expected. From Dubas, a generally reserved GM, it's a little eyebrow raising. While you like to see the fire, when the actions are followed by a press conference like Dubas', you kind of go "ohhhhhh I see"
 
Not surprising.  I'm over things at this point as the only thing that matters is the team in the end but it still sucks to see Spezza outside the organization after his time with the team.
 
https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/kyle-dubas-leadership-shines-at-nhl-scouting-combine/c-344800252
The Spezza announcement led me to this piece, with a special re-appearance of the two-phone meme.
 
This to me affirms that whatever friction there was between Shanahan and Dubas was far too large to bridge, and Dubas had this whole thing planned all along. 

Didn't care for Dubas, so I'm not rankled by this one bit.  He does deserve an Oscar for that sob performance he put on in his final press conference though.
 
Peter D. said:
This to me affirms that whatever friction there was between Shanahan and Dubas was far too large to bridge, and Dubas had this whole thing planned all along. 
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How does it do that? Spezza was clearly Dubas' guy so when Dubas left it made sense that Spezza would go too just like guys on Nick Nurse's staff have joined him at his new job. I'm not sure what that actually says about the circumstances of his departure.
 
Nik said:
Peter D. said:
This to me affirms that whatever friction there was between Shanahan and Dubas was far too large to bridge, and Dubas had this whole thing planned all along. 
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How does it do that? Spezza was clearly Dubas' guy so when Dubas left it made sense that Spezza would go too just like guys on Nick Nurse's staff have joined him at his new job. I'm not sure what that actually says about the circumstances of his departure.
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Dubas was going to leave the Leafs and Spezza was sure to follow.  Pretty simple to me.
 
Peter D. said:
This to me affirms that whatever friction there was between Shanahan and Dubas was far too large to bridge, and Dubas had this whole thing planned all along. 
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I'm not convinced he had it planned, but it definitely feels like he had it in his back pocket in the final few days.
 
Peter D. said:
Dubas was going to leave the Leafs and Spezza was sure to follow.  Pretty simple to me.
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I'm still not following. Spezza was Dubas' guy so if Dubas left Spezza was going to go with. How does that support the notion that it was predetermined? That a possible outcome has predictable consequences doesn't mean that the outcome is a sure thing.
 
bustaheims said:
Peter D. said:
This to me affirms that whatever friction there was between Shanahan and Dubas was far too large to bridge, and Dubas had this whole thing planned all along. 
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I'm not convinced he had it planned, but it definitely feels like he had it in his back pocket in the final few days.
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He had what in his back pocket? Dubas didn't have a contract. If he didn't want to come back to the Leafs he didn't have to do anything but say so.
 
Nik said:
Peter D. said:
Dubas was going to leave the Leafs and Spezza was sure to follow.  Pretty simple to me.
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I'm still not following. Spezza was Dubas' guy so if Dubas left Spezza was going to go with. How does that support the notion that it was predetermined? That a possible outcome has predictable consequences doesn't mean that the outcome is a sure thing.
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Who's suggesting that Spezza wasn't going to follow Dubas?

Whether you agree or disagree, all signs point to Dubas having had the Penguins' job lined up if things went sideways with the Leafs.  This was starting to be reported in the months prior.  Him leaving, signing a long-term, massive deal to boot, and Spezza tagging along for the ride is not the least bit surprising.
 
Nik said:
He had what in his back pocket? Dubas didn't have a contract. If he didn't want to come back to the Leafs he didn't have to do anything but say so.
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The high likelihood he'd get the type of position he was looking for in Pittsburgh if he didn't get what he wanted from the Leafs. I'm not suggesting there was anything nefarious going on, necessarily, but I don't think he made his final proposal to the team without knowing he had a soft landing.
 
Peter D. said:
Who's suggesting that Spezza wasn't going to follow Dubas?
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Nobody? I'm suggesting that Spezza leaving was a consequence of Dubas leaving. What I'm not seeing is why that makes Dubas leaving a foregone conclusion.

Peter D. said:
Whether you agree or disagree, all signs point to Dubas having had the Penguins' job lined up if things went sideways with the Leafs.
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Right, the key word there being "if". He probably knew the Penguins were interested, used that as leverage in his negotiations with the Leafs(where he seems to have asked for basically what the Penguins were offering him) and when they decided to go in another direction he took the Pittsburgh job. That still puts the decision as to his return squarely in the lap of the Leafs and doesn't suggest that there was anything disingenuous about his discussions with the Leafs.
 
bustaheims said:
The high likelihood he'd get the type of position he was looking for in Pittsburgh if he didn't get what he wanted from the Leafs. I'm not suggesting there was anything nefarious going on, necessarily, but I don't think he made his final proposal to the team without knowing he had a soft landing.
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Given the speed at which the Pittsburgh deal got done it's pretty safe to assume that his agent had gauged the market for what was out there for him if the Leafs moved on. That seems like pretty reasonable agent-type behavior. Especially considering there was a lot of talk that the Leafs would choose to move on regardless.

I suppose I'm just not seeing how Spezza following Dubas connects here, especially since there's really nothing to suggest Dubas wasn't forthright about any of this.
 
The Penguins interest in Dubas was not a surprise leading up to the end of the Leafs season. Penguins knew what everyone else knew, Dubas' contract was up at the end of the season and if he shook loose, he was their "Plan A" to fill their recently vacant President of Hockey Ops.


Both articles are from April:

https://thehockeywriters.com/penguins-could-chase-after-kyle-dubas/

https://theathletic.com/4425186/2023/04/20/dubas-penguins-gm/

 
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