When a team has a formula with a president of hockey operations and a GM, it opens the door to friction. After all, there is one that is above the other.
In Montreal, for example – oh no: officially, Jeff Gorton is a VP, not a president.
Brief. All that to say that at the Maple Leafs, Brendan Shanahan is the president and Kyle Dubas was the GM. He was, in fact, the fourth CEO to work under Shanahan.
And clearly, Shanahan didn’t mind. After all, as we can read on The Athletic, the president of the Maple Leafs sometimes blocked transactions that his GM wanted to make.
And that could have changed the course of the club in the playoffs.
According to some sources, he would also have imposed certain transactions on his CEO in order, according to him, to make the club progress. Dubas didn’t always agree with his boss, of course.
What’s interesting about all of this is that the format basically appealed to Shanahan. After all, he is the boss and he was the one who decided what happened in general terms.
But presumably Dubas was uncomfortable – and that justified his hesitation at a press conference this week. For what?
‘Cause the guy had to take the blame for things calls of his boss. Because he probably felt a bit taken. Because he probably didn’t like being told what to do.
There is a rumor that Dubas was asking for carte blanche for his next contract – in addition to the money. This makes sense if we consider the facts we have just discussed… and this forces us to wonder if he will want, in a future job, to be the #1 guy in hockey operations.
Recall that it was this week that Shanahan decided to change direction and fire. Did this happen following requests from Dubas? Logically, yes.
We will probably never know what really justified the change.
Extension
It forces me to wonder about what’s next. For what? Because Shanahan said an experienced GM would probably be prioritized for the future.
Will a veteran want to be checked? The question is valid.
