It was a bold move, but the Toronto Maple Leafs front office felt that Dubas had a unique blend of “hockey guy” background and analytics background that overcame the fears about hiring someone so young.
One thing I think we ought to keep in mind about Dubas is that he must be one hell of a bright guy to earn the top job of one of the biggest sporting organizations in the world. To get all the necessary parties in a billion dollar company to sign off on what – from an outside perspective – is guaranteed to look like a very high-risk move, the guy must be impressive.