The Leafs didn’t immediately name Kyle Dubas as the Leafs’ GM Monday when it was announced Lou Lamoriello wouldn’t be returning, and well, not everyone took that well.

The Leafs are currently operating without a GM, but rather with Dubas and Mark Hunter, the Leafs’ other assistant GM running the show. Mostly for now it’s a case of checking that your scouts are still all in the right places, twiddling your thumbs over which free agents to take a run at, and counting down the days until the draft.

(If you’d like to read the case for Hunter, you can do so here:)

The case for Dubas is a relatively easy one: Every hockey franchise he touches turns to gold. Take the Toronto Marlies, who just put up their second 110+ point season in the past three years. Or the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who advanced on Monday night to the OHL final, and moved from a basement-dweller to West Division champions in Dubas’ three years there.

Dubas has always been viewed as the natural successor to eventually becoming the Leafs’ GM, whether it was when he was initially hired during the 2014 offseason, or when on the day when Lou Lamoriello was first introduced in Toronto.

His resume itself is the kind most people dream of: hockey scout in his teenage years before eventually being handed the reigns to the Greyhounds as general manager by the age of just 25. While we don’t know exactly the impact he’s had on the Leafs’ organization, he’s done more good than bad, and the success he’s had being the GM of the Toronto Marlies speaks for itself.

There’s the obvious jokes about Dubas being just a “numbers guy” who doesn’t quite understand the game of hockey, but just about every time he speaks publicly it seems to be a net positive. While he hasn’t been quite as open to the media as of late, the following two passages show some of his new-age wisdom.

Really, it seems mostly like the decision-making processes of Dubas are of the right mindset, and that’s about all you can ask for from your GM. The Leafs have a pretty good thing going here, and it’s going to be minor tweaks rather than a major overhaul that see them take the next step. They can’t control how their divisional opponents do, but Dubas’ job would be to manage their supporting cast while inheriting a pretty favourable situation.

The biggest argument against Dubas seems to be a lack of experience, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Nothing is guaranteed in the NHL, and Kyle Dubas could end up being a complete failure. But if Brendan Shanahan and the Leafs have their best interest in mind, they’ll at least give the little GM that was a chance at running hockey’s biggest operation.