On Tuesday, the Toronto Maple Leafs replaced Dave Poulin and Claude Loiselle with Kyle Dubas, 28 years old and fresh off of a three-year stint as the general manager of the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who joins the front office as an assistant general manager.
The move caught many in the hockey world off guard, in part because a front office shakeup isn't something observers and industry insiders have come to expect in July (it's more of an April and May activity, typically speaking). TSN's Darren Dreger, in an appearance on TSN 1050 radio in Toronto on Tuesday, highlighted some of the eyebrow-raising mechanics behind the Dubas hire:
It's an interesting one to say the least. Obviously [Leafs president Brendan] Shanahan likes the experience that he has in [head coach Randy] Carlyle and in [general manager Dave Nonis], but beyond that he wants to put his stamp on this team.
I don't think that there's any doubt that if Nonis were in complete control, that he wouldn't have made the decision to remove Poulin and Loiselle - certainly not at this late stage.
You know, we're in late July. These guys probably had other opportunities in the NHL prior to and whose to say they won't have opportunities moving forward - we know contractually they're covered, they each have three years remaining - but this type of decision isn't usually made by experienced managers.
There's got to be a significant push from Shanahan [...] and [MLSE president Tim] Leiweke or I don't believe that Nonis makes these decisions.
Dreger also described Poulin and Loiselle - who are being blasted for "cronyism" among other professional failings by Toronto-based hockey media and fans in the wake of their dismissal - as "respected hockey men" and guys that "are going to find employment with other teams." The TSN analyst suggested on Twitter on Wednesday that Loiselle in particular may be a good fit for the NHL Department of Player Safety.
It's perhaps notable that Nonis, who remains the Maple Leafs' general manager despite the myriad of chefs in the kitchen, was absent from Tuesday's press conference at the Air Canada Centre due to a "family commitment."
As for the learning curve that Dubas is facing as he jumps into his first job in the NHL, Dreger characterized the adjustment as steep and suggested that Nonis would also be facing an adjustment in figuring out how to work with and develop Dubas:
[Adjusting to an NHL front office role] is really, really tough. It's just a tremendous jump, and not to say that [Dubas] is not intelligent enough to do it - of course he is - but it's going to take some time.
Maybe there's going to be a bit of a trust issue here as well. Dave Nonis, I'm sure, didn't have to look over Poulin and Loiselle's shoulders, he knew if duties were assigned that those men would follow through and get the job done.
With Dubas he's going to have to invest, and I'm sure he's willing to do that in teaching him some of the things that he learned as a young executive back in the day [...] So this is going to be interesting, but this young guy (Dubas) is really good from all accounts.
[H/T: @Hope_Smoke]
