Ex-Leafs GM Dubas, Crosby meet late at night at Penguins' practice rink: report

While Kyle Dubas’ days of managing the Toronto Maple Leafs are over, he’s not out of the news cycle yet.

And while Dubas said last week that “you won’t see me next week popping up elsewhere,” when it came to non-Leafs job openings should his time with the team come to an end, it appears that he’s popped up in Pennsylvania.

According to DK Pittsburgh Sports’ Taylor Haase, Dubas met with Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, among others, on Tuesday evening for a late-night meeting at the team’s practice facility.

Here's the latest on the Kyle Dubas front in the Penguins' GM search. https://t.co/0pYK0vs5ea

— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) May 24, 2023

“[Dubas] was at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex for a session that extended late into Tuesday night. Sidney Crosby also was there and was believed to be among those who met with Dubas. Members of the Penguins’ public relations staff also were on hand,” Haase wrote in an article on Wednesday morning.

Dubas has widely been reported as a top candidate to take a front-office role with the Penguins, who fired president Brian Burke and Ron Hextall this past April.

Dubas was fired last Friday after five seasons in charge of the Leafs, with his contract set to expire this summer. Though he showed interest in returning to Toronto’s top job after initially admitting during an end-of-season press conference he was unsure of his future, a pay dispute and a back-and-forth negotiation with team president Brendan Shanahan ultimately led to his dismissal.

Crosby, age 35, is under contract for the next two seasons at a cap hit of $8.7 million. Having won three Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2009, 2016, and 2017, he’s likely chasing one last hurrah with longtime teammate Evgeni Malkin, who is signed through 2026.

2022-23 was the first season since 2006 that Pittsburgh failed to qualify for the postseason, which was Crosby’s first year in the league. Once among the NHL’s best teams, Pittsburgh has not won a playoff series since their 2018 first-round victory over Philadelphia before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals one round later.

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