Kyle Dubas’ tenure as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs will be remembered as a polarizing run. He did some good things, but his legacy will be that he never took the team far in the playoffs and he locked in four core players to deals that hampered the organization for years. He talked about that legacy and the mistakes he made along the way in a forthcoming book by The Athletic’s Craig Custance, titled “The Franchise: The Business Of Building Winning Teams.”
Among his big admissions is that he botched up when he signed his core four players to their respective contracts. In particular, he said that his UFA offer to John Tavares was damaging because of when it took place and that he hadn’t taken care of other business first.
Did Dubas Regret Signing Tavares?
In the book, Dubas identifies his handling of contract negotiations with William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and Auston Matthews as his greatest mistake. He noted, “The biggest mistake I think I’ve made in my whole time here has been not taking care of the three incumbent contracts.” He added that he should have signed those players much earlier, and he linked the Tavares signing as one that only exacerbated the problem.
“(William) Nylander was up, (Mitch) Marner and (Auston) Matthews could have been done on July 1 extensions,” Dubas said. He then added, “The thing I learned was once we signed John to the (AAV) we did, it lifted the lid on the entire ceiling.” In other words, the seven-year, $77 million deal for Tavares — which he said he didn’t regret signing — set a high benchmark for subsequent contracts, complicating negotiations with Nylander, Marner, and Matthews. He had gotten the younger guys done first, Toronto could have avoided many of the issues that followed.
Perhaps there would have been no delay in getting Nylander’s six-year, $41.4 million extension done. Instead, he signed that deal at the last minute, disrupting his season and contributing to his lower production. Maybe Marner doesn’t hold out in 2019 before signing a huge deal. Maybe Matthews isn’t allowed to play his considerable leverage after Dubas left and signed a four-year deal as the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Every one of those three stars wanted as much or more than Tavares and they deserved the right to use him as a comparable.
Tavares’ Deal Was Simply Bad Timing
Dubas’ experience underscores the importance of timing in contract negotiations. Winning the Tavares sweepstakes ultimately worked against the team, creating a ripple effect that the organization hasn’t recovered from. Tavares hasn’t been a bad player for Toronto, but one could argue he wasn’t worth the deal he signed. And, when you factor in the domino effect it caused when it came to Matthews, Marner, and Nylander, perhaps the Leafs would have been better off never having signed Tavares in the first place.
