GM Kyle Dubas comments on the Leafs' next deadline move
Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas made himself available to the media on Friday, offering up some insight as to what his mindset is going into the March 21st trade deadline. Brace yourselves, Leafs Nation, because Dubas may only be able to fix one issue within the next 2 and a half weeks.
The Leafs have several issues that need addressing, and I don't think that anyone within the fanbase would say anything to the contrary. They need a big defenseman who can play in the top four and move people who post up in front of the net, they need a top six winger who can score, but who can also muck it up when the intensity of the games ramp up and they need to address the goaltending.
If you were prioritizing things on this list, I think you'd likely have to go:
1 - A big bodied defenseman who can clear he front of the net.
2 - A solid veteran goaltender to play in a tandem with Jack, but who is also capable of going on a run as a starter if needed.
3 - A forward with tenacity who can chip in with some secondary scoring.
Well, according to Dubas, the Leafs may only have one move remaining, and he is leaning towards acquiring another defenseman. Here's a comment from the young GM on Friday afternoon.
At least if Dubas is serious, he's targeting the right area. Bolstering the defense can have a cascading effect on the defensive pairings, forcing Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren back down to where they should be on the bottom pair, or with one of them (likely Liljegren) skating as the team's 7th defenseman. If the Leafs went after a player like Hampus Lindholm as a rental, your pairings would effectively be:
Lindholm/Brodie
Rielly/Lyubushkin
Sandin/Holl
Dermott/Liljegren
If you prefer Jakob Chychrun, swap his name out with Lindholm's. When Jake Muzzin is healthy, he replaces Rasmus Sandin on that third pair with his usual partner Justin Holl. All of a sudden, the Leafs' D goes from perhaps the team's weakest point to one of the team's stronger points.
The key here is that Dubas said that there's still a chance that they get the news that they don't want, which is that Muzzin will miss the remainder of the season. If they receive that news from the team's medical staff, then it opens up some room for the Leafs to make additional moves to address other roster needs.
The next two+ weeks are going to be very interesting.
| POLL | ||
4 MARS | 179 ANSWERS GM Kyle Dubas comments on the Leafs' next deadline move Do you think Dubas is right to go after a defenseman? | ||
| Absolutely | 150 | 83.8 % |
| We need a goalie upgrade | 23 | 12.8 % |
| He should be targeting a top-6 winger | 6 | 3.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
