Team reportedly interested in hiring Kyle Dubas after disastrous season
This isn't a new rumour, but it appears talks of Kyle Dubas being pursued by a team in the Eastern Conference is picking up steam as we get closer to the end of the season. Mark Madden, of Pittsburgh's 105.9 The X, says whispers of the Penguins attempting to snag Dubas away from the Toronto Maple Leafs are louder now that the Pens have been officially eliminated from playoff contention, missing the post season for the first time in 16 seasons.
Nick Kypreos has also mentioned the Dubas to Pittsburgh rumours in his latest column for the Toronto Star.
It's no secret that Dubas is only under contract with Toronto until the end of the 2022-23 season. Both he and Leafs' President Brendan Shanahan expressed the desire to wait until the offseason to talk about the possibility of a new deal in order to concentrate fully on results for the team. Whether the Maple Leafs can get past for the first round of the playoffs may impact negotiations, but it's hard to imagine the team having zero interest in getting Dubas back. There's also little question of Dubas' loyalty to Toronto, although loyalty generally drops as the size of the salary offer increases.
On the flip side, Pittsburgh failed to do the very thing President Brian Burke and GM Ron Hextall promised, continue to compete for the Stanley Cup by sticking with the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang and building around them. Both Burke and Hextall have been adamant that a rebuild isn't needed in Pittsburgh, but ownership and fans aren't happy with this season's results. On top of that , it looks like a lot of work is needed to get the Pens back in serious contender mode. If ownership decides Burke and/or Hextall are the issue, there's no reason not to at least contact Dubas and gauge his interest in making a move. This will be one to watch for once the offseason gets underway in the summer.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 13 | 322 ANSWERS Team reportedly interested in hiring Kyle Dubas after disastrous season Should the Penguins pursue Kyle Dubas for their new GM? | ||
| Yes, he'd be a great fit | 128 | 39.8 % |
| No, he's not going anywhere | 135 | 41.9 % |
| Not sure | 59 | 18.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||