Report: Andersen and Dubas in contact regarding trade scenarios

It’s bound to be a busy offseason for Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas. The Leafs have about enough cap space to buy a McDonald’s Extra Value Meal, yet Dubas has to find a way to overhaul his team’s defence corps and their third and fourth lines. I guess that’s the kind of situation you put yourself in though by paying your top forwards such hefty salaries.

In any case, Dubas has his work cut out for him and that’s without even addressing the situation brewing with goaltender Frederik Andersen. The 30 year old net minder is entering the final year of his contract and there have been rumours flying out of Toronto that Andersen could be traded to alleviate the team’s cap problems. The problem then of course is… who do you play in net?

Despite no clear picture for the future in goal for the Leafs, Sportsnet NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports that not only has Dubas received trade offers for Andersen from other NHL teams, but that Dubas has been in touch with Andersen himself to discuss trade options.

Check out this tidbit from Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet:

Toronto GM Kyle Dubas has reached out to Andersen at least twice to tell the goaltender other teams are interested. Dubas has said he’s not actively shopping Andersen, and is not interested in anything that he doesn’t see as an improvement.

Interesting. Dubas isn’t “actively shopping” Andersen but he’s taking so many calls on him that he feels he needs to call the goalie himself to address things? Sounds a bit like “actively shopping” to me, but I won’t get caught up in semantics. 

The bottom line is that there is interest for Andersen on the trade market and for good reason. He may not be an elite level goaltender, but the fact of the matter is that Andersen is a very good starting goaltender and has proven himself over the past few seasons in Toronto. Frankly, I'm not sure how the Leafs can trade him away without getting another goaltender in return, but stranger things have happened. Stay tuned, Leafs fans.