MONTREAL – Kyle Dubas suddenly became the most popular guy in school.
By relieving the Toronto Maple Leafs of the $3.8 million salary burden that was on Petr Mrazek in Thursday night’s NHL draft, Dubas cut a wide open No. 1 goalie spot and now has the wherewithal to fill that void.
All she has to do now is choose a dance partner.
“After we made the deal last night and got more cap space, every team that had somebody came to us this morning,” Toronto’s general manager said after Day 2 of the draft.
“It just seems like there’s more upside in this (trade) market than there is in free agency. But there is usually something you have to pay on that side as well. So, it’s just measuring the price against what we expect to get from the goalkeeper.”
Dubas plays on the field, surveys the landscape.
Name a goaltender who was removed from the roster this week – Aleksandar Georgiev, Vitek Vanecek, Ville Husso, Casey DeSmith, Marc-Andre Fleury, Craig Anderson, Scott Wedgewood – and Toronto kicked the tires.
Until free agency hits Wednesday, Dubas has exclusive negotiating rights with his own pending UFA, Jack Campbell, but is certainly exploring all other options.
“We’re all watching. So it’s safe to say that everyone who was moved, everyone who was traded, everyone who was traded and signed or signed with their own team was on our list. So it just takes a situation where there was a clear surplus and starts making it more scarce. We believe our situation should be attractive for a goaltender and we will rely on that as we flip and gauge the market,” Dubas said.
Toronto has company in an aggressive game of musical chairs, as multiple teams will bid for the services of Campbell and fellow UFA Darcy Kuemper, whose negotiating rights Colorado GM Joe Sakic was willing to offer for a pick.
The names Jake Allen, Matt Murray, John Gibson continue to circulate in the trade mill.
And then there was the fact that Dubas had multiple conversations with GM Bill Guerin in Minnesota on Friday.
Cam Talbot’s agent, George Bazos, met with Guerin on Friday, following Fleury’s two-year extension. (Fleury expects a 50/50 split with Talbot.)
“We both expressed our positions,” Bazos told Pierre Lebrun of The Athletic via text message. “Billy has a lot to think about.”
Guerin’s response, via Wild beat reporter Michael Russo: “I have nothing to do. Cam Talbot is under contract. George can say whatever he wants. My team is ready right now and this is the way it’s going. We can have all the discussions we want. Cam is a member of our team. We really like Cam. All we’re trying to do is win.”
The same goes for the Leafs, who desperately need the right goaltender to do so.
“My phone is down right now, so it’s great that everyone was here,” Dubas said. “You get a good idea of where the market is, where it’s going and who’s available, what the price will be in the trade. And now we’re going to deal with our own situation with Jack. And then, if it gets to that point, we’ll work on the remaining free agent situation.
“We like the options that we have available to us, both our internal options and our trading options.”
Brian MacLellan says he was equally open to trading Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov (both RFAs). Vanecek to New Jersey just happened to be the deal that worked.
Washington is now diving into a competitive goaltending market along with Edmonton and Toronto. Open to UFA or trades.
— Luke Fox (@lukefoxjukebox) July 8, 2022
Dubas characterized the Leafs as still in the “information-gathering stage,” but Edmonton, Washington and Buffalo are in hot pursuit of the same targets.
“A team or a goaltender can be out of a spot or a spot that neither the team nor the goaltender wants that much,” Dubas said, going back to his Mrazek decision last summer.
“We signed with Petr. Colorado when their goalkeeper [Philipp Grubauer] signed with Seattle, they were left at the end (in free agency) and then chose to pay the price (in trade for Kuemper). And it paid off pretty well for them in the end. So there’s always that option as well.”
Dubas is playing a little hard to reach here. The GM believes that what he can offer in terms of starter numbers and the ability to play behind a dynamic offense (yes, goalies love their run support) puts him in a decent spot despite a dwindling list of candidates.
“Depending on who you talk to, they might think (the trade) is closer. But from our perspective, we’re a team that obviously has a spot open. So teams with surplus might feel like things are very close with us when we’re just exploring all the options,” Dubas said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to put our team in the best place and build them into the position we need them to be.”
Make some popcorn.
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