Kyle Davidson addresses Fleury trade leaks and rift with Kyle Dubas in front of all 32 NHL GMs

Earlier this month when NHL insider Darren Dreger linked the details of a failed trade proposal between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks featuring goaltender Marc Andre Fleury, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas made it known that he was NOT happy. Dubas more or less accused Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson of leaking the details of the trade and called him out for essentially being unprofessional. 

Yesterday, at the NHL's annual GM's meeting in Florida, Davidson owned up to the leak and addressed all 32 GM's in a statement that saw him take ownership of the situation.

“It was a pretty public event and I just wanted to kind of put it out there that I take it as seriously as everyone else,’’ Davidson told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

“The event with Kyle was addressed privately, we’re good and we’re going to move forward with a good relationship.’’

Good on Davidson, I can't imagine it's easy for a rookie GM to stand up there and admit that he made a mistake. I honestly don't think I could see many veteran GMs being this bold, either.

“Sometimes stuff happens and you have to address it and move on. So I did,’’ Davidson said. “Honesty is the best way, right? There’s no point in avoiding anything. It was very public.”

I won't put words in Davidson's mouth, but I have to imagine that the leaks came from a member of his staff. And now that the situation has been dealt with, Davidson will have a better idea of who he can and who he can't trust with important information. The fact of the matter is that he gained a great bit of experience with this relatively minor transgression and he'll be a better GM moving forward because of it. 

As a fan though, it stinks to see that NHL GMs are so obsessed with keeping things under wraps. Imagine how much more entertaining the trade and free agent market would be if we were privy to all of the failed negotiations that take place during the season and offseason? Imagine seeing what each team offered up in a big trade and then looking back years later with 20/20 vision. Would be fascinating.