Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and 32 Thoughts the Podcast suggested on Hockey Night in Canada that the Toronto Maple Leafs may not be done looking for right-handed defencemen. On Feb. 29, the Maple Leafs acquired Ilya Lyubushkin for the second time in his career from the Anaheim Ducks in a three-team deal that included the Carolina Hurricanes.
Freidman talked more on the Maple Leafs/New York Rangers pre-game show that the player the club has their eyes on is Matt Dumba from the Arizona Coyotes. The interesting thing about this is that on Feb. 29, the Coyotes faced off against the Maple Leafs. When Dumba met with the media after practice, he mentioned that Toronto was one of the teams that were interested in him this offseason. Ultimately, he chose to sign with Arizona as a rental and will most likely be moved at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8.
During his podcast and the Maple Leafs’ regional games on Sportsnet, Friedman mentioned a few other names alongside Justin Bourne and Nick Kypreos. Two of these players are Adam Larsson, who plays for the Seattle Kraken, and Sean Walker, who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers. However, Dumba’s fit with the Maple Leafs makes the most sense; he is 29 years old and could sign a longer-term deal with the club and become Morgan Rielly’s full-time defence partner for years to come. The only true roadblock that general manager Brad Treliving will need to overcome is the asking price. If it is too much, then the trade won’t happen, but if it is doable, they should make it happen and finally strengthen their backend ahead of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Related: Maple Leafs & Coyotes Have the Pieces to Make a Deadline Deal
So far in 56 games with the Coyotes, Dumba has four goals and five assists for nine points. In terms of physicality, he has 83 blocks and 148 hits, averages 20:09 total time on ice, and can kill penalties.
