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Report: Penguins receive permission to meet with former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas
Pittsburgh seems to have found its ideal candidate to fill a vacancy in its front office.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have reportedly received permission to talk to former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, according to Sportsnet.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on his podcast 32 Thoughts that the Penguins will be making a pitch to Dubas, and were very close to naming a new general manager before Dubas was let go by the Leafs on Friday.
The Maple Leafs parted ways with Dubas after the 37-year-old spent the last five seasons as general manager of the club. He initially joined Toronto as an assistant general manager in 2014.
In his end-of-year press conference last week and with his contract set to expire on June 30, Dubas admitted that he would either return to the Maple Leafs or step away from temporarily step away from hockey.
“I definitely don’t have it in me to go anywhere else. It will be either here or it will be taking time to recalibrate, reflect on the seasons here. You won’t see me next week pop up elsewhere. I can’t put (my family) through that after this year.”
According to team president Brendan Shanahan, Dubas expressed a desire to sign a contract extension — albeit with new financial requests — the day before he was dismissed from the position.
A subsequent report indicated that Shanahan and Dubas disagreed on a number of hockey-related moves over the past season, including a veto on numerous trades.
The Maple Leafs were eliminated in five games in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs at the hands of the Florida Panthers, after finally moving on from the first round for the first time since 2004.
The Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time in 16 years and cleaned house in the front office, dismissing GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke.
