Penguins Have Options From Kyle Dubas' Former Team

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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t the only disappointing team in the NHL this season. Kyle Dubas’ former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, failed to make the second round for the seventh time in eight years. In their first season since firing Dubas, the Maple Leafs couldn’t make any improvements or progress in the postseason. Like the Penguins, they are an organization destined for more changes this summer.

It will be tempting for Dubas to dip back into his former employer’s pool to improve the Penguins in the offseason. They have a roster full of stars and a management team that he is quite familiar with, and there is a huge chance Toronto looks to deal a member of their superstar core.

One name that is sure to get attention this summer is Mitch Marner. With the Leafs searching for answers and slightly more than $50 million invested in five players, at least one of their top players will be shopped. Auston Matthews is tethered to the team, Morgan Reilly is the team’s best defenseman, and William Nylander just inked his new extension.

John Tavares may be shopped around this summer, but the Penguins are trying to get younger. Marner fits that bill far more than 33-year-old Tavares.

That leaves Marner in a strange circumstance. He makes $10.9 million against the salary cap and his contract ends after the 2024-25 campaign. From the Leafs’ perspective, he makes the most sense to ship out.

Which leaves Dubas and the Penguins in a opportunistic position. If the Leafs want to make a deal, Dubas’ familiarity with the organization could prove beneficial. The Penguins need a top player they can build around without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and Marner would be an excellent choice.

It’s not just the talented Maple Leafs’ roster that will attract Dubas, it’s their management staff as well. Many of the people in place throughout their scouting and executive departments worked with or were hired by Dubas during his tenure in Toronto. They could be interested in luring more of that team to Pittsburgh to join him and Jason Spezza in turning the Penguins around.

One of the most talked about names during the general manager hunt last summer was Brandon Pridham. He and Dubas were promoted in the summer of 2018 and formed a strong partnership. Pridham excels at salary cap management, and has been influential in the long-term contracts Toronto has dueled out over the last near decade.

There are no vacancies in the in the general managing department in Pittsburgh, so it’s hard to see where Pridham would fit in the organization. However, if Dubas and the Penguins want to make more improvements to their personnel, Pridham would certainly bolster their management.

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