With Lou Lamoriello out, it’s Kyle Dubas’ time to shine for Maple Leafs

Lou Lamoriello has stepped down as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Kyle Dubas is ready to take them to the promised land.

“If he doesn’t become general manager here, and I’m not going to be here for a lifetime, it’s going to be his fault.”

That was three years ago, when Lou Lamoriello was hired, and was referring to his assistant GM Kyle Dubas. Fast forward to today, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that Sweet Lou has stepped down from his role.

While they have yet to name his successor, and he has since announced he will step into a senior adviser role, the GM position will almost certainly be filled internally and Dubas is the betting favorite to take it.

After all, one of the first steps of the “Shanaplan” was replacing Claude Loiselle with Dubas as the Leafs’ assistant GM. While he had experience managing at the OHL level, he was young and still had to prove himself. But it was clear that he belonged, and that the Leafs were grooming him the whole time.

Even when Lamoriello was calling all the shots, Dubas garnered enough interest to field calls from teams like the Colorado Avalanche. And although Lamoriello was the one behind shrewd moves such as the Dion Phaneuf and Frederik Andersen trades, everyone knew that Dubas had a say in them as well.

Towards the end, some fans started to turn on Lamoriello. The two first-round exits weren’t on him, but he never did fix the defense, which has always been the Leafs’ biggest Achilles’ heel. They also weren’t a fan of the Ron Hainsey and Roman Polak signings, or of giving up second-round picks for fourth-line rentals. Given that Dubas is such an advanced stats guru, these are the types of moves that he would usually be against.

So what could change with Dubas as the GM? For starters, he might be more transparent with the media. Lamoriello was notoriously closed off, as every transaction was announced by the Leafs’ PR team. He provided little to no details whenever injuries arose, which frustrated Leafs fans when Auston Matthews found himself on the mend twice. And interviews with him that were billed as one-on-one exclusives often contained one-word answers to questions.

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Coming off another first-round exit, the Leafs’ sole focus should be on getting that first playoff series win since 2004. But as far as the front office is concerned, not much has to change. As long as scouting wizard Mark Hunter is around, the Leafs will continue to get draft-day steals. As long as Brandon Pridham is with the team, they’ll figure out ways to stay under the cap.

But there will be a new man in charge, and once the 2018-19 season starts, he can finally say, “It’s Dubie’s time to shine!”