Leafs GM Dubas: 'Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup'
Published
With the Toronto Maple Leafs exiting the playoffs in the first round for the sixth straight year, the pressure appears to be mounting on general manager Kyle Dubas.
Dubas, who is entering the final year of his contract, told Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, however, that his focus for the team goes well beyond ending the team's first-round drought.
“You want to win every year, that’s why you do these jobs,” said Dubas. “You’re at that point where that’s our goal. To win. Not just win a round. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. Not to win a series, it’s to win the whole thing. That’s what we focus on.
“Whenever we make a decision, I have never once thought: ‘How is it going to affect what people think of me?’ You think ‘Is it going to help our team accomplish our goal?’ That’s all that guides every decision I make in the short and long run. Is this decision best for the Maple Leafs in helping us accomplish our goals.”
The Maple Leafs posted a franchise-best 115 points last season, their first 82-game campaign under head coach Sheldon Keefe. The team finished second in the Atlantic Division behind the Florida Panthers and lost in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
All Eyes on Toronto’s Net
The changes for the Maple Leafs this off-season are headlined by their new look in net, with Matt Murray, acquired in a trade from the Ottawa Senators, and free-agent signee Ilya Samsonov replacing last year's season-starting duo of Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek.
Acquiring Murray was a controversial choice by the Maple Leafs. The Senators traded a 2023 third-round draft pick, a 2024 seventh-round pick and retained 25 per cent of Murray's salary to move him to Toronto in July.
The 28-year-old was limited to just 47 starts over two seasons in Ottawa after signing a four-year, $25 million contract with an average annual value of $6.25 million. The Leafs will pay Murray $4.68 million over the next two years as he plays out that deal.
Murray, who played under Dubas with the OHL's Soo Greyhounds, recorded a .906 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average in 20 games last season.
“In Murray’s case, he’s done this before. He’s won (the Stanley Cup). He did it twice (with the Pittsburgh Penguins). I know (Ottawa) moved on from him. The benefit for me is, I know him personally,” said Dubas. “I believe in him. He played for me (in junior). I agree with (former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager) Jim Rutherford. When he has to prove himself and fight for the net, that’s when he’s been at his best.”
Samsonov reached the free-agent market after going non-tendered by the Washington Capitals as a restricted free agent this summer.
The 25-year-old, who posted a 23-12-5 record with a .896 save percentage and a 3.02 GAA in 44 games last year, joined the Maple Leafs on a one-year, $1.8 million deal.
“What I’ve seen of him this summer is a very strong commitment to his craft,” said Dubas. “That’s impressed me. In terms of why the public should believe in him, well I’ll say this: He believes in himself.
"That’s why he took a one-year, bet on himself kind of deal. He could have taken more. He could have got more. He was insistent on the one-year and insistent he would prove himself in that year.”