Brendan Shanahan’s shocking press conference reveals intimate details of breakdown in negotiations with outgoing GM Kyle Dubas

TORONTO, Ont. – Talk about a wild press conference.

Hours after making the surprising announcement Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan addressed the media at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night to discuss the team’s decision to let Kyle Dubas go as GM.

Shanahan, who has held the role as president since 2014-15, said the process for a replacement will begin immediately.

“There are a lot of people who are shocked and saddened today,” Shanahan said. “But we also have a lot of people who are coming back to work to do what they’re paid to do.”

The three-time Stanley Cup champion was very candid in his opening statement, recounting a year-long timeline about contract negotiations with Dubas. Shanahan said the team wasn’t going to offer Dubas a deal last summer, but would use the 2022-23 season to evaluate the future moving forward as part of the original five-year plan.

After the NHL Trade Deadline, Shanahan went to Dubas and said he was thrilled with the progress and wanted to negotiate terms on a deal to keep Dubas as GM. Dubas’ agent dealt with Shanahan on negotiations. After the season ended last week, Shanahan and Dubas met to discuss the next steps after declaring the season a success.

“When the season did end (after Game 5), unfortunately abruptly, it was very important to me that I was ready to go early,” Shanahan said. “I expressed to Kyle that night, that as disappointed as we all were, I thought he had done a good job. It’s a tough time for the players. It’s a tough time for management. It’s a tough time for all of us.

“We communicated a little bit through text on Sunday, we had a team photo here. We went up to my office, I had another good conversation with Kyle. I presented him with what I thought was a framework that reflected what his agent and I had talked about… in an effort to get this done as soon as possible. And Kyle took it and seemed pleased.”

Shanahan said he told Dubas he wasn’t planning to talk to the media during the end-of-season availability on Monday, with the pair having usually done it together. Dubas said he still wanted to proceed with the conference and told reporters that he didn’t intend to manage any other team if it wasn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs.

After the locker room cleanout day, during which Dubas gave his presser expressing uncertainty over returning due to the toll the job took on his family, the Leafs were caught off guard, Shanahan said, and he started to rethink the team’s management plans.

“It was a very real possibility at that point that I would be needing to look somewhere else,” Shanahan said.

Shanahan said that he and Dubas met privately on Wednesday, saying “I had more questions than answers. I had no clarity.”

Shanahan then said Dubas presented a new financial package for a new contract extension on Thursday evening. By then, Shanahan had gotten to a different place about the future of the Maple Leafs. On Friday morning, he drove to Dubas’ office at the Ford Performance Centre and told him they were moving on from Dubas as manager before making the announcement just before noon today.

“A gap had risen in the contract,” Shanahan said. “The email I received from Kyle, I felt differently (about the future).”

Shanahan clarified that, in his view, the deal didn’t fall apart over money.

In terms of next steps, Shanahan said he’ll lean on assistant GM Brandon Pridham a lot for day-to-day activities. Pridham himself has been linked to other potential GM jobs around the league, but Shanahan said he hasn’t been ruled out as a successor. He also said that the team will be open-minded as to the next general manager, but that hiring a person with experience would be attractive to the team.