Kyle Dubas not disloyal, Leafs fans need to move on

A section of Toronto fans are accusing former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas of disloyalty after he was hired as President of Hockey Operations by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Video transcript

OMAR: A lot of Leafs fans are going back to that video, because Dubas was visually emotional and said, pretty much, it's either Toronto or nowhere else, or you take a year off, you know, paraphrasing here, because he couldn't see himself working for another team, right? Fast forward to now. He's now the president of Pittsburgh, and people are now taking that moment and saying, oh, well, look at that. He's a slimy, snake, coward, liar, just saying all that stuff, literally, yeah, calling him a snake and stuff. It's like--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Dubas, more like Judas.

OMAR: It's like, there's so much more information between those two events, and it's not even the same thing. It's like, yes, he said that at the time, and then what happened afterwards? And also, the fact that-- it's not like he joined Pittsburgh as the GM. He's the president, so there was a lot that took place aside from that.

And like, what? Are you going to say-- OK, so Brendan Shanahan fired him. Oh, oh, but his contract with Brendan. He fired him, right?

JULIAN MCKENZIE: He did.

OMAR: Oh, so what is he supposed to do, just not work ever? OK, I'm gone, peace. I can't work in the NHL anymore. I told the fans of Toronto that it was either Toronto or nowhere else. I can no longer work. That's it. Like, no man, and again, I think what we're seeing-- I think we're starting to see and read between the lines of where the disconnect was.

He's the president of Pittsburgh, and he's there for seven years, according to the reports. He wanted more autonomy. He wanted more say, and he wanted that long term commitment.

I don't know if the Leafs would have given him a seven year deal, truthfully, and I'm saying that as a person who thought he did a good job. I don't think they would have given him a seven year deal. I think they give him another three and see what happens. So it's like all the back checking and the, oh, Dubas is a snake, no, man. This is the league. This is the business.

ARUN SRINIVASAN: This idea of getting mad at Kyle Dubas for taking a job, where he's offered a better job, and holding him to what he said when he had an existing job offer on the table is just absolutely ludicrous.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Sam, if you're a lawyer, did Kyle do anything wrong?

SAM: No, the whole discourse around this entire situation is completely deranged.

OMAR: Yep.

ARUN SRINIVASAN: Yes.

SAM: Like completely deranged, same people who, like, get mad at players for wanting to sign somewhere else and not coming back. Like it's the same thing I said earlier. This entitlement to people's loyalty is absurd. It's a professional league.

These are multi-million dollar organizations. Cal Davis and the players are the employees. If he gets a better offer after you decided not to sign him and after you didn't sign him all year long knowing that this was on the table, it is completely deranged for people to think that after Shanahan decided not to resign him that he shouldn't take another job. Because when he did this interview right after the season ended and was clearly dealing with a lot of emotions, including the weight of his family's issues with the stress of that particular situation, it is completely deranged for people to be like, he should not take another job.

You would never expect that of yourself in that situation, like imagine that your boss comes to you and says, hey, actually, we're not going to resign you. You're now unemployed. And then some other organization comes to you and says, hey, we're going to give you a promotion and pay you a ton of money. Are you--

OMAR: No, I can't do that, because I was with that previous team since 2014, you see? And they gave me my start. I was just a-- I was just going to wait.

SAM: Never work in and just, like, sit at home and cry about the fact that you didn't get resigned. That's, like, a totally normal thing to do, right? No one actually thinks that. This conversation is absurd.

I can't believe there's even any credibility behind the stories I've seen written and the conversation about how, oh, well, Dubas must have known. He had an inkling that the Penguins are going to make him this offer, or he already had it, and that's why he went back to Shanahan and asked for more. And that casts the whole thing in a different light, and it's disloyal.

No, it's actually super rational to negotiate in your own best interest. If you're not negotiating your own best interest, what are you doing? What is wrong with you?

OMAR: Also, like have that same energy for your favorite player who is on your team's payroll up until June, July 1, 11:51 AM. And then by some divine miracle at 12:01 PM on July 1, they have a whole full deal contract, no trade clause, no move, all this details in one minute, like come on. Like, actually, come on now.

It sucks. It's annoying. It's frustrating, but let's just move on. Like me, I am saying this, me, the person who literally leads this team in weekly freak outs. Chill and move on.