Sportsnet 590 The Fan: On Monday, Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman on the options for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Marek: “This has to be job number one. Like Kyle Dubas with you on Saturday said all the right things we would expect Kyle Dubas to say. He’s not going to throw his goaltenders under the bus. I don’t think anyone expected him to. But this has to be the front-burner for the Maple Leafs right now, yesterday and the day before.”
Friedman: “I mean, that and defence, but to me it’s goaltending. There’s no question. I think they’re also concerned about some of their depth at forward, too, Jeff. This is all happening at the worst time for them. I’ve had people say to me, “Well, better it happens now than later and you try to figure it out,” And maybe that’s true. But as far as I look at it, it’s an awful lot to try to figure out right now. And I think it’s interesting.
The goaltending thing, Fleury – if they’re going to do this, number one, you got to be able to make a deal. That’s the number one thing. Number one, can you make a deal? Number two, put it this way: I don’t think Fleury’s trade list, as I said Saturday night, means anything right now. That’s just a piece of paper or an email.
What it is, is does he think he can win in your market? And I don’t think in Toronto the answer is an outright no, from the sense I’m getting. But you got to be able to make a trade. And then is Fleury going to say yes. And I would think that is all stuff the Maple Leafs are looking at right now.
But if Fleury comes off the table, Jeff, then you’re kind of getting into the same problem that Edmonton was in, which is where’s the upgrade and how much is the cost to do it.”