Mark Zwolinski rates Leafs GM options (just in case Dubas somehow doesn’t get the job).
Dubas clear favourite but there’s no timetable for naming next GM
Leafs president Brendan Shanahan will take his time with what is potentially the most important decision of his tenure with the team: naming his new general manager.
But while Shanahan will give his decision due process, the team’s front-office structure — including Lou Lamoriello moving on from GM to a senior adviser’s role Monday — appears to be tailor-made for the promotion of current assistant GM Kyle Dubas.
Shanahan and the Leafs announced Monday that the 75year-old Lamoriello would not be returning as GM for the 2018-19 season. Dubas, 31, hired as an assistant by Shanahan in July 2014, has long since been regarded as Lamoriello’s heir apparent and is the architect of what is considered to be one of the most advanced operations models in the sport. But Shanahan said there’s no rush.
“I don’t have a timetable at this time,” Shanahan said regarding the naming of a new GM, adding that he hasn’t begun to address whether the list of potential new GMs will include external candidates.
“I haven’t gone there yet (candidates). My focus is on today. Certainly as I go through the process, I’ll consider everything that I think is best for the Toronto Maple Leafs.”
While Shanahan could open up the search to include several highly-respected candidates currently on the market, Dubas was part of the so-called Shanaplan to restore the Leafs from the bottom of the standings to a youth-driven, consistent Stanley Cup threat.
Dubas, a graduate of Brock University, where he was also a scout for the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds while completing his studies in sports management, built his resume in part on his expertise in advanced statistical analysis. The Leafs, shortly after hiring Dubas, immediately vaulted to the front line of analytics, with Dubas hiring a three-man team and partnering with SAS Analytics.
That was an extension of the modern approach woven into Dubas’ time with the Greyhounds, where he eventually served as GM. He and his Greyhounds staff gathered shot and possession stats by hand back then, since the OHL did not keep track of that data.
Lamoriello, a hall of famer, began filling his executive stable by naming Dubas and Mark Hunter as assistant GMs. While Dubas was certainly groomed for a future GM post under Lamoriello, he brought former Soo coach Sheldon Keefe to the Marlies, and the two developed a hockey operations model that is still being copied in part by several NHL franchises.
While statistical analysis remains a specialty for Dubas, he was also believed to have been the point man on the Phil Kessel trade, which was completed with Pittsburgh on July 1, 2015. That deal was considered a landmark move for the franchise in terms of shedding the much-maligned Kessel, and opening the door to the franchise rebuild. The move brought in Kasperi Kapanen.
Shanahan also revoked an agreement last summer with Colorado, based on what the Leafs said was originally an arrangement for the Avalanche to talk with Dubas and exchange analytics ideas. That agreement was quickly quashed, reports said, when the Leafs learned Colorado had offered Dubas its GM job and complete control of hockey operations. Dubas now seems as well rounded, if not experienced, as any of a group of highly-regarded GM candidates that include Chuck Fletcher, who recently parted ways with Minnesota after seven years as their GM, and three current assistants — Nashville’s Tom Fitzgerald, New Jersey’s Paul Fenton and Los Angeles’ Mike Futa, all of whom bowed out of the GM search in Carolina.
Hunter, regarded as one of the premier scouts and talent evaluators in the game, is also a top-shelf candidate for the Leafs’ GM job.
Interestingly, former Leafs GM Brian Burke stepped down from his GM duties in Calgary; Burke was noted for being outspoken on the impact of analytics in hockey, but regularly attended high-end analtyics conferences and was never out of touch with the rapid rise of analysis and its role in team building.
For Shanahan, though, the GM search began with paying respects to Lamoriello, who says he is not sure what to expect in his new role as senior adviser.
“I’ve never been in a situation like that before,” said Lamoriello, whose son Chris is a senior executive with the New York Islanders. “It’s like in life, you learn as you go, you make the best of it. My responsibility is right here with the Toronto Maple Leafs. I made an agreement three years ago, my intent is (to honour) that. There are no other thoughts in my mind at this point.”
“Obviously, the one thing Lou and I talked about today (Monday), and I wanted to express to him, is how I felt,” added Shanahan, who was Lamoriello’s first pick as GM of the Devils back in 1987 (second overall).
“When you are playing for someone, it’s different than when you work alongside that person day-in a day-out. I had opportunities to have dinners with the man, to have several conversations away from the ice, to know him on a different level. I’m so proud of what he’s done with our team and the strides they’ve made on the ice.”