Maple Leafs GM Admits He Made a 'Leadership' Mistake

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is one of the hardest working executives in sports. His tireless effort and commitment to the Maple Leafs is second to none and he's evaluating his team from a variety of aspects every single day.

Not only does he appraise the performance of his players, Dubas is just as hard on himself as he is on others, and recently he made some comments admitting he undervalued leadership as a quality of need for his team.

Dubas met Luke Fox of Sportsnet and had this to say: 

Why, after the first time, I just didn't realize it and learn it then and then apply it every time moving forward, that's just a mistake on my end. Shame on me for that.

The Leafs GM went out last offseason and brought in Jason Spezza who was caught between a rock and a hard place. Dubas loved Spezza and felt he could help both on and off the ice, meanwhile the Leafs head coach at the time, Mike Babcock, wasn't a fan of Spezza and sat him opening night against the Ottawa Senators, Spezza's old team. 

Needless to say it rubbed the players the wrong way and it was a perfect example of Babcock getting in the way of himself, which ultimately led to his firing.

This offseason Dubas felt he needed more veteran presence and went out and signed Wayne Simmonds, Joe Thornton, TJ Brodie and Zach Bogosian, who will all contribute in the room in their own way. 

Those guys have a real increased sense of urgency to them. Either time is running out on their career and they want to win - in the case of Spezza, Thornton, and Simmonds - or they've faced great disappointment in the past, like TJ Brodie and all the guys on our roster.

Look for the Maple Leafs to have a bounce-back season with some fresh faces in the mix to go along with their young core. Leafs Nation is hoping the team finally has what it takes to win a playoff series. They've been waiting 15 years. You can't blame Kyle Dubas for everything.

Photo credit: Julian Avram/Icon Sportswire