Friedman says the Leafs could make a bold move if Muzzin's diagnosis is not good
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman had some interesting things to say regarding the Leafs on Tuesday's edition of The Jeff Marek Show and what their situation on the blueline will look like moving forward - particularly if Jake Muzzin ends up being diagnosed with another concussion.
Friedman was asked whether he had thought the Leafs were going to re-enter the market for defenders in the light of the Jake Muzzin injury. Here's what Friedge had to say:
"I haven't spoken to Dubas about it... I'm not convinced that even before Muzzin was injured last night that Lyubushkin was going to be his only defensive move. I'm not convinced of that. I think he's weighing some other things."
-Friedman on the Leafs being in he market for a defenseman.
"Even with the Lyubushkin situation, I think Toronto was looking at; 'okay, is there anything else we can do to fortify or strengthen ourselves here?'. So I don't think this is all over yet necessarily."
Friedman also spoke about the Justin Holl situation and the fact that he hasn't looked like himself this season. There is no denying that Holl is not the same player that he was last season. Chalk it up to Muzzin's health issues, or Holl's timing being off.. he's just been off all season and the fact that Dubas had targeted a right-handed defenseman in Ilya Lyubushkin represents that he felt as though he needed to improve on the right side.
On a number of occasions, T.J. Brodie has saved his teammates' bacon. The play of rookie Timothy Liljegren has been praised on a number of occasions by Dubas, Keefe and the team's leadership group. Nobody seems to be going out of their way to pump Holl's tires right now - and that is pretty telling.
"I don't think they plan on standing pat. I don't think Lyubushkin was the only thing they were thinking about and now we'll see how Muzzin's injury and the LTI space potentially affects all of this. One thing about Dubas - he's creative... He's willing to find unique ways of doing things."
-Friedman on not underrating Dubas' ability to make a bold move while be limited by the salary cap.
Friedman also brought up Tampa winning the Stanley Cup last season while having Kucherov miss the entire 2020-21 campaign on LTIR and the fact that Dubas likely wouldn't have any issue with taking a similar approach with Muzzin and giving him the appropriate time to heal and get back to 100% before coming back.
"I expect [Dubas] is going to be aggressive and he's going to try to be creative."
Buckle up, Leafs fans. The next few weeks could end up being very interesting.
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