Sportsnet 590 The Fan: Elliotte Friedman on the Real Kyper & Bourne show Monday morning when asked if they can expect anything from the Toronto Maple Leafs. What about Rasmus Sandin or Jake Muzzin, or is it more tinkering.
“No, I think they are considering some things. I think Dubas is trying to keep a lid on it, but I think, the Sandin situation, nobody will tell me exactly what they think the outcome is going to be here. But there’s no doubt in my mind Justin, that Toronto’s in a situation here, that they did not expect they would be in.
I think they felt that they would be able to get Sandin signed and they would tell him, if he plays well enough, there’s going to be a spot for him, but I think Sandin is resisting that right now. I think he’s taken a look at what’s going on, on the blue line and he’s saying, ‘there’s not really a spot for me here.’
Or at least he doesn’t think, whether he’s right or wrong about this, he doesn’t feel that it’s set up for him to have a fair shot at his strong side on the roster.
And I think Toronto has tried to convince him otherwise, and I think he’s just at this point in time, he’s not convinced.
I don’t know if that means they’re going to trade him. I don’t think that’s the preferred outcome here, but I think at the very least, what it’s done is made them think, are we going to have to do something here that we didn’t initially think we were going to have to do.
So, I do think that’s a possibility. Like I said, I think Dubas tries to keep his thoughts quiet but I do believe they’ve considered, what if we’ve got a make a bigger move here and what is that going to be.
Look, like if they don’t sign, let’s just assume Campbell’s gone here as it appears to be heading in that direction, then you’ve got to go out, got to get Fleury or you’ve got to get Husso or you’ve got to get Kuemper. Okay. What if you don’t get any of those guys? Then what are we looking at?
So what I think Dubas has said is, the number one thing we have to figure out is where we’re going with our goaltending here. That’s number one and everything else is secondary.”
** NHLRumors.com transcription
