Kyle Dubas sat down recently to speak with Jonas Siegal of the Athletic Toronto.
The article talks about a lot of things as Dubas answered questions on Mike Babcock, offer sheets, pitching John Tavares, and other topics.
One of the questions asked to Dubas really intrigued me as well as the answer he gave. Please see below.
Q: Speaking of some of those younger players. Isn’t it a risk to wait on extensions for Auston and Mitch given their potential this year?
A: Well, I think every day that they go unsigned and then every night that they perform to their potential there’s going to be angst. And we’ve had excellent discussions with Darren Ferris on Mitch and Judd Moldaver on Auston. It’s everybody’s ambition to continue to work towards deals that will keep them here, we hope, for their entire careers. That remains our ambition, what we’re working towards. It’s not a ploy by us to say, “Ah, we’ll wait and see how they do for the year.” I think we like them a lot and they like being here. They’re complex decisions and the circumstances here, with the salary cap being a hard cap, they’re not just simple discussions. We have to make it all fit. The players have all pledged that they want to make it all fit. Now it’s just working towards something that is fair, and that they don’t get into it a year and think, “Well, what did I do?” And vice-versa for us. So it’s been a good process with all of them, with their families, with their representatives, and we’ll just continue to work towards it during the season. And obviously we’d like to have deals as soon as we can, but I also recognize that they’re big-time decisions for everybody — the organization, the players — and they take time.
I cannot beleive the Leafs GM gave this up. This is a real eye opener. Finally Leafs Nation gets a small glimpse into the talks that are being had behind the scenes.
Very interesting to say the least. What are your thoughts?