Maple Leafs rival ready to put 'full court press' on Kyle Dubas.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made an interesting decision before the start of the 2022-23 NHL regular season when they allowed general manager Kyle Dubas to enter the season in the final year of his contract with the team.

From the outside looking in the move appeared designed to put more pressure on Dubas to produce results on the ice, notably advancing beyond the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, but it may have been a move with some unintended consequences.

Since the conclusion of the regular season there have been rumblings that Dubas may be drawing interest from rival teams around the league, potentially even teams within the Eastern Conference. On Friday, Mike Stephens of The Hockey News revealed that at least one team is prepared to put the "full court press" on Dubas should he become available, with that team being none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"The rumblings that I’ve heard at least are that Fenway Sports Group is ready to put the full court press on Kyle Dubas if he leaves Toronto," wrote Stephens.

It's not hard to see how this could cause problems for the Maple Leafs, especially if Dubas were to take his talents to another team and find success there. Even in the event that Dubas doesn't leave the Leafs though this could still have a negative impact on the team, with this likely greatly increasing Dubas' negotiating leverage in any contract talks.

If we're hearing rumblings that other teams are interested in Dubas, you can bet his representatives have already heard them as well. The decision to not re-sign Dubas sooner could end up costing the Leafs significantly more money later down the line.