Leafs GM Dubas Apparently Altering Philosophy

Toronto Maple Leafs’ general manager Kyle Dubas may finally be seeing the light. Since he took over the Maple Leafs' GM reins, Dubus has espoused an analytics approach over traditional hockey thinking. He has built a team that has enjoyed great regular season success, but as all members of Leafs Nation are painfully aware, this analytics-built team has failed to produce a single playoff series victory since Dubas has been at the helm.

Old school critics, such as the recently retired Don Cherry and current Pittsburgh Penguins president Brian Burke, have vocally expressed their concerns about the way the Maple Leafs have been built. As proponents of tough “old time hockey,” Cherry and Burke  have stated repeatedly that the Leafs just aren’t tough enough to make a deep run in the NHL playoffs. Hindsight would certainly seem to suggest that these elder hockey statesmen may, in fact, know what they are talking about. Dubus, no longer dubious, now appears to be shifting his analytics mindset to adapt to the realities of playoff hockey.

Last season, Dubas brought in hulking winger, Kyle Clifford, from the Los Angeles Kings to provide some muscle for the playoffs. Clifford did make an impact in the series against the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Dubus, believing that Clifford was lacking the necessary hockey skills to go along with his prodigious brawn, let the winger go last summer.

In preparation for this year's playoffs, Dubas signed Nick Foligno from the very same Columbus Blue Jackets that eliminated the Leafs in last year's playoff qualifying round. He also signed Riley Nash off that same Blue Jackets roster. Dubas had already signed the tough winger, Wayne Simmonds, and the aging star center and future Hall of Famer,  Joe “Jumbo” Thornton. These signings were supposed to provide the Leafs with the leadership and grit to lead them out of the bulrushes and into the postseason promise land.

Sadly, the Leafs were eliminated once again in the first round-this time by Toronto's historical nemesis,  the Montreal Canadiens,  and it seems that Dubas will once again be forced back to the drawing board to remedy his team’s continuing postseason struggles.

The addition of aging tough guys who play limited minutes has failed as a solution for the Maple Leafs’ persistent postseason failure. The problem appears to be the softness of the Maple Leafs young core. While William Nylander scored five times against the Habs, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were almost completely shut down. Meanwhile, less talented, but grittier, Montreal forwards such as Corey Perry, Joey Anderson, Tyler Toffoli, and Brendan Gallagher were all able to produce. Montreal’s aggressive forwards nicely complemented the Habs’ tough defensive corps which featured disagreeable sorts such as Shea Weber, Joel Edmundson, and Ben Chiarot.  Montreal’s ultimate series victory provided further evidence that grit will trump skills in the postseason.

If Kyle Dubas has learned anything over the past five years, hopefully it is this: that while analytics can contribute to the building of a winning hockey team they are not the be-all and end-all. The old school philosophies of veteran hockey men like Cherry and Burke should be a significant consideration as well.

It would seem that the Toronto Maple Leafs require players like Anderson, Gallagher, Toffoli, and Perry up front and defensemen like Edmundson and Weber behind the blue line. Ideally, these  players would be under 30 years of age with several good seasons still ahead of them. These regulars can complement the finesse of Tavares, Nylander, Matthews, and Marner and  provide these skilled forwards with room to manoeuvre.

Rumours have been spreading among hockey circles recently that Kyle Dubas is interested in the services of San Jose Sharks truculent winger, Evander Kane. If this is indeed the case, it would seem that the youthful Leafs GM is embracing the old-school philosophies of Cherry and Burke.

Perhaps Dubas is realizing that a pure analytics approach might work in a low-impact sport like baseball as it did for Billy Beane and the Oakland A’s; however, hockey is a completely different animal. Even in this age of political correctness, the realities of playoff hockey haven’t changed-only the strong survive.