Kyle Dubas’ Reputation In Pittsburgh Could All Come Down To One Massive Decision

Over his years of being an NHL general manager, Kyle Dubas hasn't had the best reputation for various reasons. His lack of grit when managing the Toronto Maple Leafs is often blamed for why they did not succeed during their golden era of the 2020s, and so far as Penguins GM his job has been pretty futile. But, in a season like this, his entire Reputation could be decided by one major decision, and here’s why.

The Pittsburgh Penguins came into the season being anticipated as one of the worst teams, however a solid start, currently sitting at 8-2-2, being the top team in the entire eastern conference, things aren't playing out as Pens fans expected, and Kyle Dubas may be hit with some massive decisions soon.

Along with the likes of San Jose, Calgary, and the Islanders, Pittsburgh were heading into the season with a roster that looked likely to be a lottery team. All eyes are on Gavin McKenna this season with his draft year coming up, and Pittsburgh in particular were a team who looked poised to secure the superstar from Penn State. The idea coming into the season was that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were headed for what could be their final year in Pittsburgh, and the likes of Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust could be all on the end of the trade block. The onus was on the Penguins starting a new youth movement officially under Dubas, bringing guys like Ville Koivunen and Ben Kindell into the lineup as avoid roster players, but the Pens seem like one of the most electrifying teams in the league, and the script has flipped massively.

Say for example come Christmas and New Years time and the Pens are still in playoff contention, and still have a winning record, Dubas will have the massive decision of whether to head into buyer mode, gearing up for a cup run, or he could take the other route of staying out, or even continuing with the plan to clear out the roster. The talk all offseason was around whether Pittsburgh would consider trading Crosby and Malkin if they were a bottom of the barrel lottery team, giving them one more shot at Stanley Cup glory, however that seems more than plausible in Pittsburgh.

If Dubas is blinded enough to believe the Pens can’t keep up this type of play, and decides to shop some of their best guys, driving them into lottery mode, Dubas would only be a hated man in Pittsburgh, but if things went south and they didn't win the first overall pick, his rep as a GM would never be restored. The Penguins situation is very interesting, and Kyle Dubas is set for a very tricky couple of months, but blowing up this team right now would be a disaster, and would be a career defining moment, and not a good one.