MAJOR | Toronto Maple Leafs about to lose the mastermind behind their success?

Him returning to Toronto, or even receiving a contract offer from the Maple Leafs this summer, will be dependent on how the team does during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But could there be a more intriguing option for him if he leaves Toronto?

For a little over a week now, Dubas has been linked to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization after they fired General Manager Ron Hextall and President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke.

The Penguins are looking for new hockey leadership, their Alternate Governor Dave Beeston said and it's possible that they go in the route of someone that is data-driven and uses analytics more than the traditional General Manager and someone that checks all those boxes is Kyle Dubas.

Another reason why Pittsburgh is an intriguing option is that, like Toronto, they're in win-now mode, especially with the money and term given out to older players such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. But it's also a potential new challenge for Dubas, to help the Penguins return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after missing it this year for the first time since 2006. Their prospect pool is pretty thin, let's be honest, but when you have players like the three mentioned above, you have to capitalize on the next few years and try to win the Stanley Cup, but at the same time, try to rebuild your prospect capital through the draft and not trading away your first-round picks year after year.

It will be interesting to see where Kyle Dubas lands this summer, but even if he hits the open market, there's no doubt he'll be picked up by a new team pretty quickly.

Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin are on short list of NHL's all-time duos. Is their fourth GM with ⁦@penguins⁩ the architect of ⁦@MapleLeafs⁩ team yet to win a playoff series?
And would Kyle Dubas want them?

My column for ⁦@TheAthletic⁩ ⬇️ https://t.co/dCwyYuD9RT� Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) April 20, 2023