Rival GM heaps praise on Kyle Dubas following trade deadline negotiations

It's a make or break season for Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Dubas, the Leafs' general manager for the past five years now, but he's unsigned beyond this offseason and its unclear what the team has planned beyond the 2022-23 season. That is to say, that if Dubas and the Leafs can't make some progress in the post season then Dubas is probably out of a job. After all, the Leafs have continually stubbed their toe in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with Dubas guiding the ship so it's believed that this season is his final stand with the team. It's put up or shut up time.

And because this could be his final hand with the Leafs, Dubas has pushed all his chips in. He has made some significant trades this season, acquiring the likes of Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Jake McCabe, Luke Schenn and Erik Gustvasson ahead of the NHL's trade deadline. And one of the GM's on the other side of Dubas' biggest trade, St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong, had nothing but praise for Dubas on the latest episode of the 1st Up podcast on TSN.

Check it out:

Honestly, I don't understand all of the hate that Dubas gets from some Leafs fans. Sure, the guy has failed to get his team over the hump and he has handed out some questionable contracts, but he's always been a straight shooter with the fans and the media. If he wasn't a young man playing in an old boys league, I don't think he'd get near the amount of criticism that he does. The fact of the matter is that Dubas mainly operates his team in an old school hockey kind of way. He's not the analytical darling or the uber-nerd that some Leafs fans seem to think he is. He's just your protoypical hockey bro who leans hard into nepotism and likes to work closely with people that he has a history with. If he were 57 years old rather than 37 years old, I don't think he'd have nearly as many detractors.