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Saw this blurb from KPD of the Boston Globe

NHL GM jobs remain open in Calgary, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia, and the narrative around the league is that the Flames and Flyers hires are related to whether Fenway Sports Group hires Kyle Dubas for its Penguins opening.

In Toronto, Dubas’s Maple Leafs fell into a 2-0 hole Thursday night to the Panthers, which means he soon could be eligible to talk to anyone, provided the Leafs don’t keep him in residence.

“Bright, analytics guy, growing confidence on the job. You know, hockey’s version of Theo Epstein,” said a longtime agent. “Dubas would be good anywhere.”

Perhaps.

The Leafs, finally into Round 2 for the first time since the invention of carbon sticks, have structured a very top-heavy cap model in the Dubas era. They’ve stacked the top of the forward order with high talent and higher salaries, dollars that have led to perennial issues on the back end, including defense and goal.

Unlike the Bruins, with David Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm the only two players who can’t be traded, the Leafs have four players who can’t be moved. Three are forwards: Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner, along with Morgan Rielly on the backline.

That’s four players at an aggregate AAV of $41 million, or half the cap. By the way, two games into their series with the Panthers, the Leafs’ goal scorers were Matthew Knies, Michael Bunting, Alex Kerfoot, and Ryan O’Reilly. The high rollers weren’t rolling.

Yet in Pittsburgh, “Keys to the castle for Dubas,” said one well-connected source in the league’s infrastructure.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/...s-roster-2023/