Senators, Penguins remain linked to ex-Leafs GM Dubas: reports
While he’s fresh off a high-profile departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Kyle Dubas remains at the forefront of the NHL rumour mill.
After five seasons at the head of the NHL’s biggest market, Dubas left the franchise on Friday under bizarre circumstances when the organization announced they’d parted ways with the 37-year-old who first joined the organization in 2014.
With Toronto and Dubas trending towards a possible contract extension, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan admitted he switched course midway through last week before coming to the conclusion they’d be continuing forward with a new general manager.
But in the days following his departure from Toronto — and his own insistence last week he wouldn’t be rushing for another job in the NHL should he be done with the Leafs — Dubas has been linked to front-office openings with both the Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins.
“Pittsburgh has deepened their search. There was a chance I think we could know next week. But at the very least now I think they’re going to reach out and gauge what [Dubas’] interest is,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on last night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. “I don’t know what the answer to that question is. But I do think the Penguins are going to reach out to at least get permission to talk to him and see where he is.”
The Penguins are expected to reach out and ask for permission to speak with Kyle Dubas, per @FriedgeHNIC. đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/TMckfxsIyi
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 21, 2023
“It will either be [Toronto], or it will be taking time to recalibrate on the season,” Dubas said at his end-of-season media availability last Monday. “You won’t see me next week popping up elsewhere, I can’t put [my family] through that.”
Sportsnet’s Luke Fox didn’t seem to think there was a high likelihood that the Penguins rumour would come to fruition, but floated the possibility that Dubas could be inclined to stick around for the Senators to be giving him a call. While the Senators have a current general manager in Pierre Dorion, a new incoming ownership group might be interested in a front office role for Dubas, who grew up a fan of the Leafs’ cross-province rival.
The Senators are currently without a president of hockey operations role, which could be a fit for Dubas.
“We’re told the idea that Dubas would take over in Pittsburgh was more smoke than fire. One source: ‘I think Kyle’s waiting for Ottawa,'” Fox wrote in an article yesterday.
Only time will tell where Dubas lands.
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