Rumour: Kyle Dubas Turned down the Pittsburgh Penguins' GM Offer
The DailyFaceoff’s president of hockey content, Frank Seravalli, was on The Fan’s ‘Drive Time’ radio show where he shed some contrasting light on the premature reports out of Pittsburgh that Kyle Dubas had inked a deal with the Penguins to be their next general manager.
When asked what he had been hearing, Seravalli dropped this nugget of information to chew on.
“Not with me. I did see a report in the last half hour from Mark Madden from 105.9 ‘The X’ in Pittsburgh. A pretty well-connected guy in the Pittsburgh scene who is reporting that Kyle Dubas is closing in on a contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. That kind of goes against just about every single thing that I have heard. I seem to have some indication, and not obviously to a point where I feel comfortable in reporting it, but there has been lots of smoke in the last 24 hours that Kyle Dubas has, in fact, turned down the Pittsburgh Penguins. But, again, I don’t feel comfortable reporting that. It just seems like there’s an indication that the Penguins and Fenway Sports Group have reengaged with some other people who they were previously interviewing – which would lend to speculation that Kyle Dubas has turned them down. But, again, nothing that I’m comfortable sharing in an official way. That’s just sort of the vibes that I’ve been getting, calls that I’ve been chasing in the last 24 hours.”
If true, that is a huge but completely understandable piece of news.
As I wrote on the weekend, Dubas has been attached to the Penguins’ vacancy essentially since the moment the Penguins’ streak of reaching the postseason ended. When general manager Ron Hextall paid the ultimate price for this shortcoming, Dubas’ name was naturally brought up as a viable replacement.
Following Dubas’ own media availability at the conclusion of the Leafs’ postseason efforts, he made it clear that he was only interested in being the Leafs’ general manager. And, if that fell short, he would be taking time away to spend with his family, but that was before Brendan Shanahan aired the details of their contract negotiations and his hesitancy to bring Dubas back if the general manager was not completely committed to returning to Toronto.
When the Leafs pivoted and simply walked away from bringing Dubas back into the fold, Dubas’ opinion may have changed. He reportedly went down to Pittsburgh to meet with Sidney Crosby at the team’s practice facility last Tuesday. Although it is possible that he was just doing his due diligence and felt like he owed it to Pittsburgh to hear the organization’s pitch and offer, perhaps he balked for the same family reasons that he outlined during his aforementioned interview.
On the other hand, there are still those prevailing rumours that he was waiting for the Senators’ ownership situation to conclude because he wanted to keep that door open.
If the rumour that he turned down the Penguins is true, that leaves Ottawa as the preferred destination to be. Maybe. It certainly would be easier on his family to keep them in Canada and move them up the 401 to the nation’s capital where the lifestyle, fans and media are significantly easier to deal with. The Senators also have an impressive collection of young talent to build around and look poised to take meaningful steps toward competitiveness with the right head coach and a more talented supporting cast.
More than anything, even if Dubas’ perceived interest in Ottawa is real or not, the rumours just underscore how this new ownership situation will help make Ottawa become a viable destination for the first time in a very long time.
For a franchise and fan base that has suffered through some difficult, embarrassing and challenging times, it is a refreshing and deserving time.
Dorion on the ‘Cam and Strick Podcast’
Senators general manager Pierre Dorion was on the ‘Cam and Strick Podcast’ for a lengthy interview that was published this morning.
One of the things that really stood out was that when he discussed the Mark Stone trade, he casually mentioned that his recommendation to Eugene Melnyk was to meet Stone’s contract demands. To give him the eight years and whatever dollar figure he wanted.
When asked what the downside was, Dorion explained to the owner that typically, as players age into their mid-30s, their performance wanes and their contract actually becomes a hindrance. According to Dorion, Melnyk then pointed out that this period of decline would coincide with when the team was projected to be good again, so the organization moved to trade Stone instead.
For years, people have been overly forgiving of Dorion’s missteps by reductively blaming them on the pressures of working for a micromanaging and impulsive owner. For the first time that I can ever recall, this interview was the first instance I have ever heard Dorion publicly acknowledge and hang move on the sole discretion of the owner.
Going from one extreme to another, the Stone trade started as his proudest day as general manager and now it was all driven by Melnyk.
What a time to be alive.