Kyle Dubas has reportedly identified his untouchables in any deadline deal
The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to be big time buyers at the upcoming NHL trade deadline. That's why, when Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed which pieces the Leafs are not interested in moving, it caught Leafs Nation off guard.
After Leafs GM Kyle Dubas' comments made at last year's deadline, I think it's safe to suggest that most Leafs fans knew that the team might trade one of its top prospects in a deal for some help up front. Of course, what we know now is that the Leafs ended up trading their 1st round pick and a pair of 4th round picks for Nick Foligno - and we all know how that worked out.
Here we are, a full calendar year later, and Dubas has retained all of his top prospects. It would make sense to move at least one of them for some help either on defense or on the wing within the team's top-six. Well, according to Friedman's report on The Jeff Marek Show on Friday, Dubas has revealed that Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Rodion Amirov, Topi Niemela and Nick Abruzzese, among select others, are untouchable.
Further to the Leafs' stance on deals including any of these prospects, Dubas reportedly also wants to hang onto this year's first round pick. So then where does that leave the Leafs in terms of which assets they're looking to move to upgrade?
Well, the team's 2023 first round pick should almost certainly be up for grabs. They also have picks available in rounds 2 through 6 next year and some other enticing prospects, such as Roni Hirvonen, who captained Team Finland at the postponed and rescheduled WJC tournament. Dubas also has prospects with the AHL's Toronto Marlies who may be of interest to teams, as they are closer to NHL-ready. defensemen Kristians Rubins and Mac Hollowell, along with centers Alex Steeves and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev could be available.
With the team also committing to goaltender Joseph Woll for a few more seasons, they also have some carrots that they could potentially dangle in front of teams in need of some goaltending prospects in Keith Petruzzelli and Erik Kallgren.
Dubas and company have shown the willingness and ability to get creative with trades as well, so perhaps there are come scenarios that we are not even seeing here. Could the Leafs take on another LTIR contract and throw in some balancing pieces in exchange for a player who fills a need for them on defense or at center and increase their LTIR cap relief a the same time? This is just one of a few possibilities that exist.
With approximately 3 weeks remaining until the trade deadline, we're going to start to hear more rumours. It's an exciting time of the year, especially when your team is excepted to be one of the league's most aggressive teams.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 26 | 433 ANSWERS Kyle Dubas has reportedly identified his untouchables in any deadline deal Which asset do you think Dubas would be most likely to move in the right deal? | ||
| Robertson | 156 | 36 % |
| Niemela | 91 | 21 % |
| 2022 1st rounder | 101 | 23.3 % |
| 2023 1st rounder | 85 | 19.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
