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The news of the three-team deal involving Pittsburgh, Montreal, and San Jose with the end result of Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson ending up with the Penguins began in the mind of former GM Kyle Dubas when he was with the Toronto Maple Leafs and may have been one of the things that led to his departure from the Leafs.
"It was a fairly lengthy process that goes back to my previous employment,"
Dubas said in a Monday press conference announcing the deal. "Even though he's in his early thirties, he continues to be one of the top skaters in the NHL and obviously his offense is quite prolific.”
Although it is unknown how the Leafs would have pulled off the deal with their cap constraints, there has been speculation that Dubas attempt to pull off a Karlsson deal received some resistance from either the MLSE board or Team President Brendan Shanahan, which led to Dubas attempting to gain more autonomy and streamline the management process as part of a new contract.
Toronto’s pivot to address their defensive needs were bringing in Jake McCabe from Chicago and adding rentals Luke Schenn and Erik Gustavsson from Vancouver and Washington.
Without knowing what the price that Toronto would’ve paid for Karlsson, it is tough to evaluate if that deal would have been beneficial for the Leafs playoff chances. That being said, the club has been challenged in their own end for years and a purely offensive blueliner like Karlsson, no matter how great he is at that end of the ice, would seem to be the wrong fit. Just as Tyson Barrie was not a good fit in 2019.
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One thing we mentioned on the Monday Buzzcast, the Karlsson deal may break the logjam of potential deals before the start of the season, including a potential William Nylander deal.
All indications are that there has been little progress made on a new deal for the 27-year-old winger, with his representation looking for a multi-year deal in excess of $10 million per season and the Leafs looking for an AAV under $9 million. While there is some chatter that interested teams are lowballing trade offers hoping that GM Brad Treliving will bite, another option might be to deal Nylander for another one-year rental like
Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin, who would provide a significant upgrade to Toronto’s blueline.
It is hard to imagine Treliving going into the regular season before either trading Nylander or signing him to an extension since it would be a repeat of the Johnny Gaudreau scenario in Calgary. If the Leafs sign Nylander at close to their price without giving him full no-trade protection, it is still possible that they trade the winger before his new deal even begins.
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In a projection the 2024 roster for Team Canada,
Corey Pronman of the Athletic has Leafs 2022 second rounder Fraser Minten making the club as a fourth-line winger.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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