Brendan Shanahan dropped a bomb on Leafs Nation and the NHL on Friday when he announced that the Toronto Maple Leafs had rescinded their contract offer for Kyle Dubas. By doing this, they effectively dismissed the GM who had built the first Leafs team to make it out of the first round in 19 years. Shanahan cited two main reasons for dismissing Dubas. He doubted Dubas' commitment level after an emotional locker clean out day availability. He also revealed that Dubas had asked for a substantial pay raise in the 11th hour of negotiations.
It's true, Dubas wanted some time to make sure his family's mental health was in a place where they could handle the stress, and sometimes abuse and threats that came with Dubas having the job. The 2022-23 season had been particularly hard on them and he was worried for their well being. As someone with a young family, I can relate to that. As for the pay raise, that's negotiable, and frankly it's embarrassing if that was really the sticking point here. There seemed to be something missing from Shanahan's story.
On a panel during the second intermission of Game 2 between Carolina and Florida, Elliotte Friedman revealed a third item on Dubas' list. More control over roster decisions. Dubas felt that the decision-making process was too tedious and involved too many people. He wanted more freedom to work with and more responsibility. It makes sense since he is now much more experienced. Why would he still need every decision to go through Shanahan, then the Board of Directors? That's too many cooks in the kitchen. It was also unfair to Dubas, since every decision rested on his shoulders whether it was him, Shanahan or the board that made it.
This also makes Dubas' ask for an increase in pay make more sense. He was asking for more responsibility, so a pay raise would naturally be in order. As more details emerge, I'm leaning more and more towards the idea that Shanahan made a reactionary move without thinking things through. Whether it was the right move or not remains to be seen. If letting Dubas go does prove to be a mistake after all of this drama, I don't see any way Shanahan keeps his job.
