Trusted Insider's latest report on Kyle Dubas revealed just how blindsided he was by his dismissal
What a whirlwind of a week it was in Toronto. On Monday, players and staff members spoke with the media - Kyle Dubas included. Less than a week later, we have no GM, Jason Spezza has tendered his resignation, the Core 4 is likely to be broken up, the coaching staff could be dismantled and the Leafs have quite the uphill battle to deal with all of this and more this summer.
In terms of how quickly the temperature changed in Toronto for Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan, the Leafs' President revealed that while he did want to bring Dubas back and worked very hard to do so, he claimed that something Dubas said during his press conference really altered his way of thinking and his confidence in Dubas as the guy to get this team over the hump. Shanahan also revealed that he told Dubas not to meet with the media before a deal was done. Well, not only did Dubas meet with the media, but he took a deal that was nearly completed and attempted to change the terms in the 11th hour, overplaying his hand and finding himself out of a job.
In terms of how committed Dubas really was to staying in Toronto, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said during his 32 Thoughts segment on Saturday night's coverage of the Panthers/Hurricanes game that Kyle Dubas held meetings with personnel in Toronto 2 days after his presser. These meetings were to address some of the changes that were needed to help improve the team. That doesn't exactly sound like someone who thought they were about to be replaced.
Dubas has still not met with the media to share his side of the story. He turned down a request by the media to speak with him on Friday following his dismissal, but he did mention that there would be "a time for that", so we may hear from him at some point. At any rate, to go from meeting with personnel and planning important upcoming decisions to being jobless in 48 hours is a pretty wild thing to have transpire. I'd imagine that Dubas himself is still in shock and might regret pushing too hard, speaking with the media when he was advised not to and altering the deal at the last minute.
