Conflicting Reports Maple Leafs Goalie Shopping Ahead of Trade Deadline

A report Thursday out of Toronto suggested the Maple Leafs were not overly concerned with long-term injuries among their goaltenders. While the status of Frederik Andersen isn’t completely clear and there is some concern that Jack Campbell’s injury history could pose a problem down the line, general manager Kyle Dubas has faith none of these potential problems are serious ones.

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Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen is "progressing well" as he recovers from an injury.https://t.co/4byNHtYb58

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 1, 2021

TSN’s Darren Dreger was a guest on Overdrive this week and discussed concern that neither one of the Maple Leafs goaltenders are fully healthy. He did say there’s an expectation internally that Andersen will return to the ice soon and reports are he is progressing well, but cautions that the Maple Leafs can’t go into the playoffs with Campbell and Michael Hutchinson as your one-two.

He suggested the Maple Leafs might be having internal discussions about possibly adding a No. 3 goaltender, but said there doesn’t seem to be any heightened sense of urgency to get that done. Dreger’s colleague Pierre LeBrun doubled down on that and added that he doesn’t believe the Leafs are even calling around for a netminder. Essentially, while the Leafs might have discussed internally that this could be an issue, they’ve elected to sink or swim with what they have and are confident their goalies will be alright.

A Conflicting Report out of Toronto Suggests Otherwise

Interestingly, a report by Elliotte Friedman who was a guest on WGR 550 The Instigators suggested the Maple Leafs have already reached out to another team about a goalie. He believes Dubas has been in contact with the Buffalo Sabres about goaltender Linus Ullmark.

A pending UFA, Ullmark would be a nice insurance option for Toronto if any injury to Andersen is worse than expected. He notes:

The situation I heard his name in, and I don’t necessarily think it was anything like, “Let’s talk about a deal,” but I do think that Toronto, in doing their due diligence as they try to sort out in their net, has called Buffalo to ask what the Sabres are thinking there [with Ullmark]. I don’t know where that is going to go.

Frederik Andersen has an appointment today, and they’re hoping to get better clarity on what his situation is. If he is out for the year or anything like that, Toronto is going to get serious about what they have to do in goal. I do think they have touched base with Buffalo at least asking what their plans are with Ullmark.

“If we need to do this, would there be an option there?”

h/t to Maple Leafs Hot Stove for the quotes

It’s possible those talks, if they took place, didn’t lead to much. Friedman noted he didn’t believe the Sabres would be asking for a first-round pick in return for Ullmark, but wouldn’t be shocked if GM Kevyn Adams said, ‘You are desperate, and let’s see what I can heist out of you.’

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