Kyle Dubas knows that if his team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, don’t perform, he will be one of the first to find a new job.
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The Toronto team have not advanced to the second round of the playoffs since 2004 and have suffered a seven-game setback against the Montreal Canadiens in the most recent spring dance, who had taken a 3-1 lead. .
The pressure of the market in this city will make heads fall if it does not get closer to top honors, and this in the very near future.
“I think it’s fair to say that if there isn’t a change in our performance, there will be some within the organization,” Dubas said in The Bob McCown Podcast on Thursday. It comes with operating in such a market and not having reached our full potential in the playoffs. ”
The Leafs have been performing well in the regular season for years before crashing in the first round of the playoffs. They finished first in the Canadian Division in 2020-21 and their offensive machine is in full swing when the stakes aren’t high.
The team’s salary structure is largely hampered by four forwards, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, who alone command just over $ 40.5 million. Dubas, however, has repeatedly reiterated that he has full confidence in this group, which absorbs nearly 50% of the space under the salary cap set at $ 81.5 million.
“It’s normal that we are thinking of changes, especially considering the fact that we are coming back with the same core, in which I have a lot of confidence,” he continued. If I didn’t believe in him, being aware of the consequences for the team, I wouldn’t have kept him. “
Several changes around this core were made during the summer. The Leafs have lost the services of their number 1 goaltender, Frederik Andersen, as well as those of Zach Hyman, Joe Thornton, Nick Foligno and Zach Bogosian.
It remains to be seen whether the additions of Nick Ritchie, David Kampf, Ondrej Kase and Michael Bunting can make up for the loss of these players. They also acquired the cerber Petr Mrazek who will come to support Jack Campbell, a revelation for the Leafs during the last campaign.
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