Brendan Shanahan started the week wanting to keep Kyle Dubas in the fold.A stunning, roller-coaster five days culminated with the Toronto Maple Leafs now in the market for a new general manager ahead of what could be a defining summer for the success-starved Original Six franchise.Shanahan, the team’s president, fired his 37-year-old GM on Friday, bringing an end to a tumultuous stretch that began with Dubas stating publicly Monday he wasn’t certain he wanted to remain in the role.The Leafs said in a press release issued shortly after 12 p.m.
ET the organization was “parting ways” with Dubas, whose contract was set to expire June 30, after five seasons in charge.But in a detailed opening statement that lasted more than 11 minutes at a press conference in the bowels of Scotiabank Arena some three hours later, Shanahan said he decided to hand Dubas his walking papers that morning.
The decision came despite the GM sending an email the previous night indicating he wanted to stay on board — albeit with an increased salary demand via his agent.“At that point … I had gotten to a different place about how I felt about the future,” Shanahan told reporters. “As hard as it is to make a significant change to somebody that you’re close to … the email that I received from Kyle, I just felt differently, and I felt that the long-term future of the Maple Leafs might have to change.“Slept on that and woke up this morning, drove to Kyle’s office … and informed him that we were not going to be renewing his contract.”With Dubas the jaw-dropping first domino to fall in what is shaping up to be an intriguing few months in hockey’s biggest market, attention now turns to his replacement, along with the status of head coach Sheldon Keefe and the.