So which version does the Maple Leafs general manager expect to see when Toronto visits the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SUN, SNO, NHL.TV)? Or for the remainder of the season, for that matter?
Will it be the Dr. Jekyll team that showcased its talent in a 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday?
Or will it be the Mr. Hyde version that looked poor in losses to the Buffalo Sabres, Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes last week?
"We don't know," Dubas said when asked what has caused the Maple Leafs' inconsistency this season. "If we knew, we'd go about fixing it.
"It might draw some criticism to say I don't know, but I'm not going to come up and … say I have some magical solution. We have to go through this and find our way to be our best on a daily basis. There are very few teams that once they acquire talent through the draft, boom, reach their potential and win championships and play at a consistent level. We're clearly not there yet, but we also show signs of what we can be when we are there.
"We can't waver when things don't go well."
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Dubas said the Maple Leafs were not going to let the emotions associated with the recent funk make it a seller Monday before the NHL Trade Deadline. There had been plenty of speculation that defenseman Tyson Barrie, who is in the final season of a four-year contract, might be moved, but that never came close to happening, the GM said.
Toronto didn't make any significant additions by the 3 p.m. deadline either. Dubas said their big move came Feb. 6, when goalie Jack Campbell and forward Kyle Clifford were acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for Trevor Moore, a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Toronto is 4-4-1 since the trade, a symbol of the inconsistency this season.
The Maple Leafs' most recent outing was a 6-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, when the winning goalie was emergency backup David Ayres. The 42-year-old Zamboni driver came in after Carolina goalies James Reimer (upper body) and Petr Mrazek (upper body) were injured; Ayres made eight saves on 10 shots.
The Maple Leafs subsequently have been ridiculed for losing to a guy they employ as their third goalie in practice. Dubas said the defeat was embarrassing because of the poor performance from start to finish, not because Ayres was on the other side.
"There are a lot of people that are writing the obituary for the team and putting the team into the ground," Dubas said. "And that's fine, that's fair. When you play that way, that's what you get.
"But I know from that comes opportunity. You can go meekly into the night and just accept and build the excuses that you want for why it didn't work out the way that you wanted it to work out, or you fight your way back. And it's not a prove-people-wrong thing because I think the criticisms that are levied are largely fair. But it's a chance to show what your best self is."
