In spite of the addition of John Tavares in free agency, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has yet to address the need to improve of the club’s blueline, which was apparent last season and in their first round loss to the Boston Bruins.
As with the contract situations with William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, Dubas appears to be adopting a patient approach regarding the pursuit of defensive help, indicating that he has confidence in the blueline options available internally.
The Carolina Hurricanes continued their organizational upheaval under new owner Thomas Dundon and GM Don Waddell on Thursday with the trade of winger Jeff Skinner to the Buffalo Sabres for prospect Cliff Pu and three draft picks.
Skinner had been rumored to be headed out of Carolina before Dundon took control of the club, but the new owner’s desire to clean out the organization has seen Team President and GM Ron Francis, head coach Bill Peters, Skinner, Noah Hanifin, Marcus Kruger and Elias Lindholm headed elsewhere and has increased speculation that defenseman Justin Faulk will be the next veteran to be leaving town, but at this point Canes GM Don Waddell is keeping his options open.
“Faulk is different,” Waddell said to Canes beat reporter Luke DeCock.“We never said we wanted to trade Justin Faulk. People assumed when we picked up Dougie Hamilton that was the direction we were going to go, but we don’t feel that same way.
We feel if we do stay status quo, we’re going to have one of the best defensive corps in the league. Saying that, if some team steps up to the plate for him or another of our players we’re going to continue to look at that.”
With the addition of Hamilton (who scored 17 goals with Calgary last season) and with Calvin de Haan, Brett Pesce and Jaccob Slavin expected to be play in the top four, Faulk may be relegated to a secondary offensive role and playing on the bottom pairing, forcing new coach Rod Brind’Amour to sit either Trevor van Riemsdyk or youngster Haydn Fleury.
The subtraction of Skinner likely puts Carolina in the position to swap their excess on defense for forward help and that is where the Maple Leafs would be a perfect fit, with their bevy of young wingers.
Faulk makes sense for the Leafs in a number of areas. He is right-handed, which would make him a potential fit on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly and would allow veteran Ron Hainsey to play lower in the lineup.
He is under contract for another two years at a reasonable $4.833 Million AAV, which would allow Dubas to bolster his blueline this season, potentially freeing him up to move pending free agent Jake Gardiner at the trade deadline or keep Gardiner and let him walk via free agency next summer and have Faulk as a cost-effective replacement for next season.
Waddell is in no rush and could wait until the trade deadline to have desperate teams drive up the price on Faulk, but a team could hit the jackpot if they come close to meeting his price.
*******
Here is the latest edition of "The Leafs Convo", please watch and subscribe to our YouTube page.and/or listen on iTunes and keep the podcast going by contributing through Patreon.com.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»