Now it’ll be interesting to see who gets the GM job. This is a step in the right direction.

Feel like it has to be Spezza right? I saw they told Steve Greeley he's out of the running (Stars Director of Hockey Strategy, scouting and development)

Crazy! GM I could see, but President of Hockey Op's... Never expected that. Kinda makes sense in hindsight, though. I wonder how much more Dubas could've done in TOR if he wasn't handicapped by ownership and management, and now he has the control he always wanted.

Yup. Best hire we could've possibly made. And he has no ties to the organization. He will come in and make the changes that need to be made with a completely new approach. This is something the team hasn't had for a while with Hextall and Burke. Extremely excited for this.

Maybe Dubas acts as both for the year, and if Brandon Pridham (the Leafs' Cap Wizard AGM) jumps ship the following year hires him. I think Pridham has a year left on his contract with the Leafs.

I hope he brings in Gibson, would be nice to see what Gibson could do with a change of scenery.

Assuming you mean John Gibson, I'd be shocked if he gets moved, Verbeek pretty firmly closed the door on it in March

"I'm not considering moving John Gibson," Verbeek said flatly. "I've actually sat down and had a conversation with him about this. We have an excellent number one goaltender. The hardest thing in the NHL is finding a number one goaltender and I can speak from experience on this, because when we were in Tampa, we did not have a number one goaltender and we gave up numerous assets trying to chase one.

"Finally we were able to draft one with Andrei Vasilveskiy. When you have one, you don't give them up unless you've got another one that's coming behind. At this point, we're very young with our goaltenders and certainly we're not at that stage where anyone can take John Gibson's position at number one right now."

Full Article if you want - https://www.nhl.com/ducks/news/verbeek-reflects-on-ducks-struggles-previews-crucial-summer-in-anaheim/c-341996140

It could be Spezza, but I really hope for Darche. That would be ideal. They can bring Spezza in an advisory role.

I think Gibson wants to stay in Anaheim but I don't think he would be opposed to a move if there was an actual opportunity. To me, it sounds like Verbeek wants to inflate Gibson's value, if he gets an offer worthy of an elite goaltender I'm sure he'll take the offer back to Gibson and see what he thinks. Most, if not all, GMs aren't going to pay Verbeek's ask probably, so that's probably why Gibson hasn't really considered moving especially with the young core developing.

Great hire. He got the keys to the kingdom. Let's see what he does with it now!

If all he was doing was inflating value I dont think he would "devalue" Dotsal like that, especially when it seems clear he is ready for a bigger role

He doesnt even say anything about Gibson really, just how hard it is to get a #1 and the fact that we have one so why trade him.

Seems like this is as genuine of a "He isnt being moved" as possible

Dostal is still only 22 though, there's no reason to rush him, but by that time will be 31, and this team seems like it might still be a few years away from competing. So, Gibson doesn't really seem to fit with their timeline, but he's not going to dump him either so as to not rush Dostal. I think an a year or two though there might be more urgency to move him.

The reason he's probably saying those things is perhaps that he's getting offers for Gibson that he deems as lowball offers, based on Gibson's current numbers. I'm sure Verbeek does truly believe that Gibson is a number 1 goalie.

Can someone tell me what makes Dubas so coveted - like what has he done? What success has he had? I don't follow GMs at all really

He's an analytics guy, I'm guessing Pittsburgh is looking for someone who can try something new. He did a good job fielding a team when the Leafs were facing a cap crunch, so he has a knack of finding cheap talent, and his team was good at drafting late.

Since Pittsburgh has their core locked at pretty cheap, other than Guentzel, he'll try to surround them with young, cheap talent, maybe add one big guy. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to make a move for Matthews or Nylander via trade or FA if they hit.

As for success at the NHL-level, he has yet to have any.

Thanks for the response - appreciate it! I'm all for an analytics type person - it just seems to me like he's another guy who couldn't win anything despite having multiple superstars on his team. So I was wondering why he's so coveted. And another guy who let McCann go in the expansion draft(yes I'm still bitter about this lol).

I do like the moves he made at this years deadline though - and it does look like he's made some good value signings

Well, he left McCann and Kerfoot exposed, he didn't want to leave Holl exposed since the Leafs needed him for their top 4. McCann and Kerfoot were similar players but McCann was the better scorer, and McCann didn't really cost him much since the Kapanen trade he made with Rutherford I think?

So, he's made some pretty nifty trades too. The Pens core is old but locked and much cheaper than the Leafs guys, so I think he'll run the same concept, but he's going to be able to afford more talent, if he manages to move some of those big contracts that Hextall/Rutherford added recently.

Yeah it was for Hallander and a 7th I think. I'll trust what you're saying since you're more educated on the Leafs situation than I am - just seems to me like Holl could have been replaced in free agency and protecting a 23 year old that just scored at a 60 point pace would be more important. But maybe he figured he wouldn't be able to re-sign him. I just kind of threw that in there because I'm still bitter lol. The Kapanen trade was a fleece though fair point - so good for him on that one.

I trust ya - and am obviously hoping you're right. As far as the big contracts go - his only real option is moving/buying out Granlund. Everybody else has clauses

No, probably Darche from TBL.



Agreed, feel like we are in for a “splash” we haven’t seen in some time with this management. I actually get the feeling again that this team is headed towards the promise land again.

Yeah, Dubas has the potential to make some big changes. My only thing while listening to Dubas's press conference is it sounds like he wants to keep Jake with Sid. So all these trades on here with trading Jake might not happen....so maybe an extension is coming??? idk

Yea I think we can rule that out from happening. I’d expect an extension and to be quite honest I don’t think it’s going to be for 6-7 years. I’d honestly look at a 4 or 5 year deal and up the AAV and both sides sign off on it.