Kyle Dubas Announced As Leafs General Manager

The post was originally published on May 11, 2018. It was republished May 11, 2020 as part of the Retro May look back at our work over the years.

Assistant General Manager Kyle Dubas will succeed Lou Lamoriello and become the General Manager in charge of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the franchise has announced.

Brendan Shanahan, President and Alternate Governor of the @MapleLeafs, announced today that Kyle Dubas has been named the 17th General Manager in the Club’s history. #TMLtalk

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) May 11, 2018

The move doesn’t come as a huge shock; Dubas has been viewed as the heir apparent for several years now, almost since his hiring in July 22, 2014.  In his time as AGM, Dubas oversaw the rise of the Toronto Marlies to an elite AHL organization and one with a solid chance at a Calder Cup this year.  The Colorado Avalanche apparently tried to hire Dubas away last year and were declined; this seemed to mark him as the GM of the future.

Dubas will be one of the youngest General Managers in the league, and is widely viewed as statistically progressive.  We’ll have much more to say about him shortly, but you can see our recent work on Dubas’ AHL reign here.

The Leafs are scheduled to have a press conference this afternoon where more details may be revealed. It’s the Leafs, though, they might not say anything.

From the press conference:

Shanahan says initial meeting with Dubas four years ago was supposed to be about mining information from a bright, young mind ... was supposed to last 1-2 hours, ended up at more than nine hours with Brendan deciding he wanted to hire Kyle ...

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 11, 2018

Kyle Dubas thanks MLSE ownership ("for showing the faith in me"), Brendan Shanahan for "everything he's done for the organization and for me," and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who gave him an opportunity at 11 years old to be involved in hockey every day

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) May 11, 2018

Kyle Dubas: praises Sheldon Keefe, Lou Lamoriello (unbelievable mentor)

— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) May 11, 2018

Kyle Dubas very complimentary of Lou Lamoriello and his relationship with him, but also adds jokingly, "I told him I wouldn't say too many nice things about him, so I don't ruin his reputation."

— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) May 11, 2018

Dubas on Babcock: "I've always had a good relationship with Mike ... he's very open to ideas, to change"

Kyle says they've had great conversations & not just about hockey, but also about life, fatherhood etc

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 11, 2018

Brendan Shanahan: “I definitely examined prospects outside of our organization...the answer was within our own organization.”

— Andi Petrillo (@AndiPetrillo) May 11, 2018

Brendan Shanahan says he interviewed Kyle Dubas and Mark Hunter. He called Hunter a couple nights ago to say Kyle was getting the job.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 11, 2018

There’s no indication they discussed the new ECHL team at this briefing. If they post the video, we’ll add that.

Sheldon Keefe spoke to Todd Crocker about Dubas:

Following #Marlies practice today, @HockeyCrock speaks with Sheldon Keefe about new @MapleLeafs General Manager Kyle Dubas.#MarliesLivehttps://t.co/ryp9FGhvci

— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 11, 2018

One note on the Dubas hiring: when Lou Lamoriello arrived, the team announced his term as three years. Asked after the media conference, Brendan Shanahan said Dubas has a five-year term.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) May 11, 2018