Quote:
Originally Posted by acottawa
I certainly wouldn’t exonerate Dubas in all of this. He has made some very questionable decisions (not acquiring a decent backup goalie, starving the team of quality D, massively overpaying for Nylander).
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Dubas
starved the team of quality D? He's been the GM for two years, and since then he's added Muzzin (top pairing D on LA's cup winning teams), Barrie (60 point defenseman for Colorado), transitioned Dermott from a prospect into a full-time NHL player, and drafted Rasmus Sandin who had one of the best AHL seasons from a teenage defenseman in history last year. Those guys replaced Connor Carrick, Roman Polak, and Ron Hainsey, the latter two of which could barely skate by the end of their time with Babcock.
You know you don't just go and pick a Drew Doughty off a tree right? not only do they take years to develop, once they do teams aren't exactly jumping to get rid of them in a trade. To call into question two years of management because you didn't acquire the rarest commodity in the sport is asinine.
This is aside from the whole fact that the future of the league is transitioning away from looking at the roster in such black and white as "d man play defense and forwards play offense." The prototypical stay-at-home defenseman barely exists anymore. There aren't players like Pronger, Chelios, Stevens, etc. floating around the league. The idea that defenseman aren't just there for defending, they're there for a
different kind of defending is the way things are going. Fluidity in roles as you transition from possessing the puck to defending in your own end is something management is striving for with this team and the way it's constructed. Something that Keefe has bought into as well during his time with Dubas on the Marlies.
I don't think the Leafs are going to pull a Mike Sullivan-type reversal and go on a tear to win the cup like the Penguins did, but at least we have someone willing to drive the car the way it was designed for. It will be fun to watch either way.