Kyle Dubas reveals his biggest mistake as Leafs GM with shot at John Tavares!

Pittsburgh Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas opened up on his career in a new book written by The Athletic’s Craig Custance. The book “The Franchise: the Business of Building Winning Teams”, which comes out on Oct. 15, highlights Dubas and the decade he spent inside the Maple Leafs’ organization. But it also reveals what he thought his biggest mistake was while he was at the helm in Toronto when discussing the free-agent pursuit of John Tavares in the summer of 2018 and the impact on other contracts.

“The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts,” Dubas told Custance in the book via Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby. “(William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions.”

In the book, Dubas explains how he spoke to the three of Matthews, Nylander, and Marner about the possibility of signing Tavares and what it could mean for the Maple Leafs’ future.

“The thing I learned was once we signed John to the (AAV) we did, it lifted the lid on the entire ceiling,” Dubas said.

At the time, we all remember how things got complicated between the Leafs and Nylander, who was looking for an extension when the rumour of a offer sheet made his value shoot through the roof. It took months to settle when, finally, Nylander inked a six-year, $45.09 million contract on Dec. 1, 2018, right before the deadline.

Fans feared the same thing would happen with Marner a year later, when he finally where the forward signed a six-year deal during the team’s training camp.

But then, there was the pandemic, money was tight and still today, some fans and pundits wonder why the Maple Leafs pay so much to sign Tavares as a free agent. In recent months, the captain has been shoved in trade rumours that see him leave Toronto. He is however expected to start the season with the Maple Leafs.

Dubas is now busy in Pittsburgh and Penguins’ fans are hoping he will be careful with the money there.

The book also features an interview with current Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving, and I’m wondering how he feels about Tavares’ signing and the impact of Dubas’ decisions on his tenure now in Toronto.

I guess we will find out more once the book releases on Oct. 15.