By relieving the Toronto Maple Leafs of the $3.8 million burden Petr Mrazek had on Thursday night on the floor of the NHL Draft, Dubas carved out a big spot for a No. 1 goaltender and now has the money to cover it the gap. 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. “There seems to be more upside in that (trade) market than there is in free agency. But there’s usually something you have to pay for that as well. So it’s just measuring the cost against what we expect to get from the goalkeeper.” Dubas plays on the field, looks at the landscape. Name one goaltender removed from the available list this week — Alexandar Georgiev, Vitek Vanecek, Ville Husso, Casey DeSmith, Marc-Andre Fleury, Craig Anderson, Scott Wedgewood — and Toronto was kicking the tires. Until free agency hits Wednesday, Dubas has exclusive negotiating rights with his own pending UFA, Jack Campbell, but he’s certainly exploring all other options. “We look at everybody. So it’s safe to say that everyone who 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 to make it rarer. We think our situation should be enticing for a goalkeeper and we will build on that as we move forward and gauge the market,” Dubas said. Toronto has company in an offensive 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 make an option. The names Jake Allen, Matt Murray, John Gibson continue to be in the trade mill. And then there was the fact that Dubas had multiple conversations with Minnesota GM Bill Guerin on Friday. Cam Talbot’s agent, George Bazos, met with Guerin on Friday after Fleury signed a two-year extension. (Fleury expects a 50/50 split with Talbot.) “We’ve both stated our positions,” Bazos told The Athletic’s Pierre LeBron via text. “Billy has a lot to think about.” Guerin’s response, via Wild beat reporter Michael Russo: “I don’t have anything to do. Cam Talbot is under contract. George can say whatever the hell he wants. My team is set up right now, and it goes like this. We can have as many conversations as we want. Cam is a member of our team. We really like Cam. All we’re trying to do is win.” Ditto the Leafs, who desperately need the right goalie to do so. “My phone isn’t working right now, so it’s great that everyone was here,” Dubas said. “You have a good sense of where the market is, where it’s going and who’s available, what the cost will be in the trade. And now we will deal with our own situation with Jack. And then if it gets to that point, we’ll deal with the rest of the free agents. “We like the options available to us, both domestic and commercial.” Brian MacLellan says he was equally open to trading Vitek Vanecek or Ilya Samsonov (both RFAs). Vanecek in New Jersey just happened to be the deal that worked. Washington is now mired in a competitive goaltending market along with Edmonton and Toronto. Open to UFA or trade. — luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) July 8, 2022 Dubas calls the Leafs still in the “information-gathering stage,” but Edmonton, Washington and Buffalo are hotly pursuing the same targets. “A team or a goalie can be left without a position, or a spot that either the team or the goalie doesn’t want as much,” Dubas said, recalling his decision on Mrazek last summer. “We signed Petr. Colorado, when their goalkeeper [Philipp Grubauer] they signed with Seattle, stayed at the end (of free agency) and then chose to pay the price (in the trade for Kuemper). And it ultimately paid off for them quite well. So, there is always that option.” Dubas is playing a little hard here. The GM believes that what he can bring in terms of starts and opportunities to play behind a dynamic offense (yes, goalies love their run support) puts him in a decent spot, despite a shrinking list of candidates. “Depending on who you talk to, they might think (a trade) is closer. But from our perspective, we’re a team that obviously has open space. So teams with overkill can feel like things are too close with us when we’re just looking at all the options,” Dubas said. “We’re going to do everything we can to get our team in the best spot and build it into the position we need.” Prepare your popcorn.
