Pittsburgh Penguins job too tempting, so Kyle Dubas walks back talk of a break (2024)

Kyle Dubas only had to glance just down the road from Toronto to find the team that would give him the title, the power and presumably the money to run a hockey team his way.

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That, and a strong desire by the Pittsburgh Penguins to hire a dynamic young executive right away, made Dubas backtrack on an emotional vow made two weeks earlier that he’d either come back to the Maple Leafs or take time off with wife Shannon and his two young kids.

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A half-hour before Brad Treliving was introduced Thursday morning as his replacement as general manager of the Leafs, the Pens announced Dubas as their president of hockey operations where his change of heart was questioned.

“Maybe I was too honest that day about how I was feeling at that exact moment,” Dubas said.

“When we came to the last day (president Brendan Shanahan fired him May 19) we get inundated with calls and texts. People want to come over to the house. It is nice, but it is also sad.

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“Very early the next morning, I was on the phone with one of our staff. I had a 647 area code call, a message from Sam (Kennedy of Fenway Sports Management) who told me they had permission (to talk before June 30) from Toronto. My initial inkling was that we needed to take a breath before we entertained other options.

“My wife later in the day said, ‘I think you should go and at least meet with them. If they are great people, they have a long-term view of the organization, and it is going to be a great fit for you in terms of what everyone is about that you are going to work for and with, and the staff has a great feel … we are going to be moving anyway, before the kids are too entrenched’.”

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The Pens also had Shannon and the kids in mind when they arranged for a VIP tour of the city and Dubas made his decision earlier this week.

“It’s in the past,” Dubas said of the circ*mstances of his departure. “We jumped into this with both feet.”

The Pens had other young hockey execs in mind, but short-listed the 37-year-old Dubas when he became available. His resume includes working nine years for the Leafs with influences from Shanahan, Lou Lamoriello and two front office juniors who might join him, Brandon Pridham and Jason Spezza.

Dubas helped make Toronto a destination team for many free agents again with its off-ice program and perks. There were also five winning seasons under Dubas as GM, the past two with 110-plus points, albeit just one playoff series win and what could be a costly legacy of contracts and trades.

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In dumping Dubas, Shanahan was meticulous in a candid play-by-play of how he’d wanted to award a contract extension, but concerned by Dubas’s raw comments about needing a break. Then came the falling out with Dubas’s agent, Chris Armstrong, about terms regarding more money and Dubas’s request to ‘streamline’ the decision-making process with Shanahan and the MLSE board on hockey matters to give Dubas a longer leash. Both Shanahan and the board were likely cool to that idea, given the lack of playoff results on Dubas’s watch.

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In Pittsburgh, Dubas now has the clout to name his own GM, though said Thursday he’ll take that interim role in the weeks leading to the NHL draft and make a more informed decision afterward.

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It’s expected a few loyalists will join him from Bay St. — special assistant Spezza resigned the same day Dubas was let go and assistant GM Pridham has aspirations for a bigger role — which would intensify relations between geographical rivals.

With speculation that if Keefe is eventually fired he’d just drive south on I-75, too, Dubas made fast friends among allies of current Pens’ coach Mike Sullivan, hinting strongly he’ll stay despite them missing the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. Dubas and Sullivan covered some roster philosophy in Dubas’s initial visit to Steeltown last week.

“Sully and I had a brief discussion on this. The top end of the forward group (Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Rickard Rackell) is very, very good. Do we need another piece there to put us over the top? Then it’s what types of players do we want in the bottom half that can deliver the game to those top players?”

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Dubas and Crosby have already huddled and Dubas said a long-term plan to support Crosby and Malkin and gradually rebuild is a priority.

As to whether the Penguins’ window for a fourth Stanley Cup since 2009 is closed, he retorted: “If people want to bet against Mike, Sidney, Evgeni, Kris Letang and others, they can go ahead. But I’m going to go with them here.”

As for the curious timing of Dubas’s press conference Thursday, Shanahan insisted he was not bothered by being upstaged, that he’d been in contact with Fenway the past few days regarding the transition of Dubas and knew the Pens’ decision on their GM was close.

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