Kyle Dubas says he’ll work for Maple Leafs or no one next year

Kyle Dubas appeared to put an end to the swirl and speculation about his future today in Toronto. Despite internet chatter (and possibly some wishful thinking along the way) about a potential future with the Penguins, the Maple Leafs’ general manager stated — and clearly repeated — that he has no interest in working anywhere other than Toronto next season.

Dubas is set to have his contract expire at the end of this season and publicly went through an interesting time where he and Toronto leadership watched the playoffs to establish just what kind of future either side might want from the other moving forward. Dubas’s potential availability or interest in the Pittsburgh job has floated around through various levels of the rumor mill as a place that would be interested in him if he was hitting the job market, whether it was his choice or the Leafs’ decision.

The Calgary Flames join the Penguins in having a vacancy at general manager.

If going on his word today, Dubas might not be even in the NHL at all next season due to his family.

Dubas then went on to talk about what he may do this summer for the Leafs to help them try and take the next step, very much sounding like a manager still focused on his current job at hand.

If nothing else, the news about this unavailability will help the Penguins as an organization set their plans to move on in their process without Dubas. The Pens are believed to be in the early stages of identifying and reaching out for initial steps with possible candidates for both a general manager job and a President of Hockey Operations position. Based on what Kyle Dubas said today, the current GM in Toronto won’t be in the running to make a change at this point.