Contrary to what was sort of assumed, the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie GM does not need permission from Brendan Shanahan or the board of directors to make a move.
That means that he can fire Mike Babcock.
If he wants to.
Notably, in his post-season media review, Kyle Dubas did not guarantee that Babcock would return as head coach, prompting the annoyance with Babcock to form into full on speculation.
It’s too soon to tell if the Leafs will make a coaching change, but it’s certainly possible.
Full Autonomy
According to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, Dubas doesn’t have to run anything by anyone.