Kyle Dubas admits he may be on the hot seat heading into this season.

Dubas doesn't shy away from a tough question.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Kyle Dubas admits he may be on the hot seat heading into this season.
David Berding-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs have failed to live up to the expectations of their fan base, and that is putting things rather mildly.

In spite of the fact that the team has had a great deal of success during the regular season in recent years, the reality is that the lackluster playoff performances from this Toronto Maple Leafs group has left fans of the franchise with a very poor taste in their mouths. The team's high powered offense has all but vanished come the biggest moments in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and as a result many were expecting some major changes to the team during this offseason.

Those changes however never materialized and with training camps drawing near in the National Hockey League it now seems clear that the Maple Leafs will enter the 2021 - 2022 regular season with a roster that looks very similar to the one that once again fizzled out of the playoffs this past season. It is a gamble on the part of Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, who clearly believes in his core group, and this week during an appearance on the Bob McCown podcast he was hit with some pretty tough questions as a result of his decisions this offseason. NHL insider John Shannon asked Dubas point blank if he felt this would be his last chance at taking the Maple Leafs on a run into the playoffs that extends beyond just the first round.

To his credit, Dubas appeared to acknowledge that he could very well be out of job if the team fails to deliver yet again.

"This is my 8th season Jon, so going into the 4th as general manager I never think about things that way but I also don't shy from the question either" began Dubas. "I think it's certainly fair to ponder and especially given the fact that we are gonna return the same core group, which I have great belief in. If I didn't have belief in it, knowing the consequences to the team, we wouldn't have returned it. But I think it is certainly fair to say that if there aren't changes to our performance in the end that there will be changes to the organization."

Dubas went on to acknowledge that this kind of pressure is to be expected in a market like Toronto, especially given the team's recent history.

"I think that comes with the territory of operating in a market like this and operating with a team that hasn't reached its potential in the playoffs thus far."

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