Several days after the Toronto Maple Leafs fired him, former general manager Kyle Dubas broke his silence Tuesday, saying he wouldn't address the details of his exit from the franchise.

"While I understand there is interest surrounding the circumstances of my departure, I will not get into the specifics of what I consider to be reasonable and consistent but private discussions," Dubas wrote in a statement on behalf of his family. "In the days that I felt I needed to assess and evaluate my own view to the future, both with respect to the necessary direction of the club and ensuring that I had the full support of my family for what I knew would be required in the offseason and years to follow, the organization, as is their right to do, decided to go in a different direction."

He added: "It was an honor to be able to work in such an inspiring place with dedicated, loyal people and an extremely passionate fan base. The impact of that and the relationships with all of the people at MLSE, from the board of directors through to the ushers at Scotiabank Arena, will forever hold a dear place in our hearts. ...

"We will roll from here," the statement concluded.

The Maple Leafs parted ways with Dubas on Friday following five seasons as the team's general manager. His contract expires June 30.

The Pittsburgh Penguins reportedly already received permission to speak with Dubas regarding their open front-office positions.

In a candid press conference Friday, Maple Leafs team president Brendan Shanahan outlined contract negotiations with Dubas dating back to last summer. Shanahan said the club had decided to bring the GM back and was nearing the completion of an extension prior to Dubas' end-of-season media availability Monday.

"While watching Kyle's (press conference), there was a dramatic shift in my thinking," Shanahan said. "Because Kyle might not want to be GM, and I have to take that very seriously."

Before Dubas was fired, he spoke openly about his undetermined future and unwillingness to move elsewhere.

"I definitely don't have it in me to go anywhere else," he said. "It'll either be here (with the Leafs) or it'll be taking time to recalibrate and reflect on the seasons here. You won't see me next week pop up elsewhere; I can't put (my family) through that after this year."

The Maple Leafs set franchise records for single-season wins and points with Dubas at the helm but failed to break through in the postseason. Toronto won its first playoff series since 2004 in May against the Tampa Bay Lightning only to be brushed aside in five games by the Florida Panthers in the second round.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour was frustrated by a missed high-sticking call late in Monday's 1-0 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Final.

Panthers forward Sam Reinhart clipped Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere in the face with his stick with just over two minutes remaining in regulation and Carolina's net empty. There was no penalty on the play.

Brind'Amour said he was particularly perplexed because the referee blew his whistle but offered no subsequent explanation as to why the play was blown dead.

"The stick to the face, I thought he called," Brind'Amour said postgame. "He stopped the play. Whatever, that's not the difference. We've gotta get more than one, anyway. But that adds to the frustration in the game. No doubt about it, right?

"Especially when they stop the play. I don't understand that. You stop it because you saw a high stick. Why are you stopping the play then? I don't know. No explanation, just move on."

Brind'Amour wasn't pleased with the officiating as a whole.

"I could go on all day on that," he said. "We get three knick-knack penalties on sticks to the hand, one guy drops his stick on it. I was told early in the series that that's not necessarily a penalty. If it hits his hands - but that just taps his stick, and (he) lets it go. It's not really a penalty. It wasn't called against us in the first or second round."

The Panthers received four power plays in the game, scoring the contest's lone goal on the man advantage in the second period. The Hurricanes received only one power play despite outshooting Florida 32-17 and controlling 77.83% of the expected goals at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Carolina has had no answer for the Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who's stopped 132 of the 135 shots he's faced in the series.

Florida leads the series 3-0.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov is questionable to return to Game 3 of his team's Eastern Conference Final matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes due to a lower-body injury, the team announced.

Barkov missed the last seven minutes of the first period of Monday's contest after taking a hit from Hurricanes forward Jack Drury. He didn't come out for the start of the second frame.

Eetu Luostarinen took Barkov's place centering Florida's top line, while Ryan Lomberg replaced Luostarinen on the left wing of the third line.

Barkov, 27, entered Monday with four goals and eight assists in 14 postseason contests. The former Selke Trophy winner finished second among Panthers skaters with 78 points in 68 regular-season games.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Nikolaj Ehlers expects a busy offseason for the Winnipeg Jets after a rocky finish to the 2022-23 campaign.

"I can't tell you what's going to happen or what needs to happen, but I'm guessing that something is going to happen, yes," Ehlers told NHL.com's Aaron Vickers.

The Jets tumbled out of the Central Division race late in the campaign, finishing in the Western Conference's second wild-card spot after leading the conference earlier in the season. The Vegas Golden Knights eliminated Winnipeg in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

A disappointing finish to the year grew messier after Jets head coach Rick Bowness said he was "disappointed and disgusted" with his team's effort in the playoffs. The comments sparked a public response from veteran Blake Wheeler, who said he disagreed with Bowness' handling of the situation.

Ehlers didn't have any insight to offer regarding the team's early exit.

"I can't tell you what went wrong," he said. "It's just part of the playoffs. We would still like to be playing right now, but we just weren't good enough. Vegas beat us, and they should've."

The Jets have made the playoffs in five of the last six seasons but face a critical offseason: Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Connor Hellebuyck are among the players set to enter the final year of their respective contracts.

Ehlers, 27, registered 12 goals and 26 assists this season, playing in just 45 games due to injury. He's under contract through 2024-25 at a $5-million annual cap hit.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Craig Conroy will be named the Calgary Flames' new general manager, according to TSN's Darren Dreger.

Conroy has been a part of the Flames' front office since 2010 and has held the assistant general manager title for nine years. He also spent parts of nine seasons as a player in Calgary.

Brad Treliving mutually parted ways with the Flames in April after nine years as the team's general manager. His contract expires on June 30.

Among Conroy's first tasks will be hiring a head coach. Recently promoted president of hockey operations Don Maloney fired Darryl Sutter earlier in May.

Veteran executive Dave Nonis will join Conroy in Calgary's front office in a senior management role, reports Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli. Nonis, who was a candidate for the GM job, reportedly impressed during the interview process.

Flames legend Jarome Iginla - Conroy's former linemate - is expected to join the team in an advisory or consultant role, Seravalli adds.

Nonis owns over six years of experience as an NHL general manager, spending four years with the Vancouver Canucks from 2004-08 and two with the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2013-15. He's spent the past three campaigns as assistant GM of the Anaheim Ducks.

The Flames are expected to announce Conroy's promotion Tuesday, according to TSN's Salim Valji.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were given permission to speak with former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Monday's edition of "32 Thoughts."

Toronto decided to part ways with Dubas on Friday. His contract expires June 30, so teams wanting to talk to the 37-year-old before that date must get the Maple Leafs' permission.

Pittsburgh fired general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke in April.

The Penguins were very close to the end of their search for a new head of hockey operations before Dubas became available, Friedman added.

Buffalo's Jason Karmanos, Carolina's Eric Tulsky, Dallas' Steve Greeley, New Jersey's Dan MacKinnon, and Tampa Bay's Mathieu Darche are among the candidates believed to have been a part of Pittsburgh's second round of interviews for their GM vacancy, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Dubas was in the Maple Leafs' front office for nine years, operating as the team's GM for the past five. Toronto made the playoffs each year during his tenure at the helm and set single-season franchise records for wins and points. Despite the regular-season success, the Maple Leafs managed just one postseason series victory, which came this year against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Prior to being let go, a candid Dubas spoke about his uncertain future and a lack of interest in moving elsewhere.

"I definitely don't have it in me to go anywhere else," he said. "It'll either be here (with the Leafs) or it'll be taking time to recalibrate and reflect on the seasons here. You won't see me next week pop up elsewhere; I can't put (my family) through that after this year."

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

In a shocking upset, Norway defeated Canada 3-2 in a shootout at the men's World Championships on Monday.

The victory is Norway's second win ever against Canada at the Worlds, with the first coming in 2000. Norway's roster has no active NHL players.

Thomas Olsen scored the decisive goal in the shootout for Norway.

Andreas Martinsen - a veteran of 152 NHL games across stints with the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal Canadiens, and Chicago Blackhawks - put Norway on the board first at 9:45 of the opening period. Former Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Sondre Olden extended Norway's lead 1:52 into the second frame.

Milan Lucic drew Canada back within one before the midway mark of the contest. With 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Lawson Crouse tied the game on a feed from Michael Carcone to send the game to overtime.

Joel Hofer got his second start of the tournament for Canada, allowing four goals on five attempts in the shootout. Norway's Jonas Arntzen stopped 31 of 33 shots and denied two of four shootout attempts.

Projected 2023 No. 2 overall pick Adam Fantilli received a match penalty in the second period for illegal head contact.

Both teams had gone to one shootout in the tournament prior to Monday. Norway lost against Kazakhstan, while Canada survived an upset bid from Slovakia.

The winner of the Canada and Czechia matchup Tuesday will finish second in Group B. Norway can't advance to the quarterfinals.

Copyright © 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.