Leaf Notes: Kyle Dubas discusses his ‘biggest mistake’ in his new book

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The past year in Pittsburgh gave Kyle Dubas time to reflect on his eventful years as general manager of the Maple Leafs.

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Despite having some success on the ice, with the team posting multiple 100-point seasons and some good stories, he was unable to achieve playoff success, directly related to contract issues related to the NHL’s salary cap after he paid more than many other teams for John Tavares with a seven-year, $77 million offer.

In a new book by Craig Custance, an ESPN reporter who now works for The Athletic, Dubas’ entire pursuit of Tavares and his 10 years in Toronto are part of “The Franchise: The Business Of Building Winning Teams.”
Dubas has no regrets about the Tavares deal. Although it still has a year left, it has naturally caused headaches for his successor Brad Treliving, but there are aspects he would like to have back.

“The biggest mistake I made in my entire time here was not taking care of the three current contracts,” Dubas told Custance. “(William) Nylander was on, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done with the contract extensions on July 1.”

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Dubas regrets not making more progress on all of these issues before Tavares, but spoke to the trio about how winning the JT competition would impact their future standings.

“I learned that the lid fell off the ceiling when we signed John for the (AAV) we did,” he said.

Complications arose starting with Nylander when an unnamed team floated the possibility of an offer and his price skyrocketed, causing the winger’s two-month absence to affect his 2018-19 schedule, in which he scored just seven goals in 54 regular-season games and just one in the playoffs.

Marner briefly sat out of training camp before signing his current contract and Matthews eventually came on board with a team-wide AAV of $13.25 million through 2027-28.

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Others have since come to Dubas’s aid, and in the book, Darryl Belfry, then a member of the Leafs’ hockey office in player development, recalls that the fallout from COVID-19 led to the introduction of the flat cap at the time and that history could have judged Dubas differently.

“What would the upper limit be? $90 million?” Belfry guessed. “Kyle would never say that, but I would. The world stands still, the upper limit is the same for several years, and you have to do your own forecasting. You didn’t miscalculate, it was a natural disaster that overwhelmed you.”

The book also includes interviews with Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper, Lou Lamoriello on his various stops as GM, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis, and Dallas Stars GM of the Year Jim Nill.

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Marner helps, but remains silent

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Marner’s long-term future as a Leaf is uncertain, but his sixth annual All-Star Invitational hockey event is certainly upon us.

After a red carpet appearance on Thursday night (the hockey media was warned that there would be no interviews with the winger), Marner and NHL friends were scheduled to hold an on-ice clinic for donors at the Sports Village in Vaughan on Friday morning, teaching puck control, stick handling and goal-scoring, followed by a 3-on-3 tournament between NHL players in the afternoon.

The charity, which is a major reason Marner wants to stay in Toronto (the Leafs had two weeks to begin talks on a contract extension), has raised $2 million for sustainable change in social welfare, health, education and environmental protection for children and youth.

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Marner’s mission statement states, in part: “You (as a Leaf) are tasked with making a difference in people’s lives every day, and I believe it is your choice to try to do that.”

Marner met with Craig Berube and the new Leafs head coach described him as “a character guy, I’m looking forward to coaching him.”

HOTEL CALIFORNIA

The American Hockey League has expanded its regular season schedule to include games between some Pacific Division and East Coast cities.

For the Toronto Marlies, this means two home games at the Coca-Cola Coliseum on October 12-13 against the San Diego Gulls and a game against the Bakersfield Condors in November. There are also four games at the Scotiabank Arena on the schedule – Boxing Day, Family Day (February 17) and two Saturday doubleheaders with the Leafs on November 16 and March 15.

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WENDEL’S STORY OF THE BUCKET

Wendel Clark brought back an unusual souvenir from the old Maple Leaf Gardens.

“The original practice puck bucket,” Clark said while attending the recent Studio Auctions event featuring Leafs and NHL memorabilia with fellow captains Darryl Sittler and Rick Vaive. “It’s been around for who knows how many years, all blue with a white Leafs logo printed on it.”

“Whoever came out of the locker room first always took it from the door, a 20-litre bucket three-quarters full of pucks. Why did I keep it? Just because, I guess.

“I cared more about this than anyone else. I was injured so many times that I had to train so much on my own, including a whole year on my own. Unlike today, we didn’t have nine coaches working with you when you were injured.”

Back then, visiting NHL teams often brought their own pucks to away games, and an alert collector could snag a rare puck. One paper found a Colorado Rockies puck a few years after the team moved to New Jersey.

Clark also had someone bid on his behalf for a dressing room at the Gardens when the building closed in 1999.

“I just said to make sure it wasn’t Mats Sundins,” Clark laughed. “This one could have been expensive. There’s no name on the one I have. Now it’s just sitting in my garage because I’ve moved a few times.”

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X: @sunhornby

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