Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka explained why he traded Dennis Hildeby to the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 1.
With the Maple Leafs signing Sergei Bobrovsky to a free agent deal for three years and $21 million, plus with backup goalie Anthony Stolarz in the fold, it was going to be tough for the Maple Leafs to keep Hildeby on the roster.
Although the team would have liked to keep Hildeby as the team’s third-string goalie, ultimately, it’s difficult to keep three goalies on the active roster, especially since Hildeby would have needed to clear waivers to be sent down to the Toronto Marlies.
With center a position of need, the Maple Leafs made the move with the Lightning to send Hildeby and two draft picks for Nick Paul in what looks like a win-win trade for both teams.
John Chayka Explains Dennis Hildeby Trade
Speaking to reporters after his free agent shopping on July 1 was completed, Chayka explained his thought process behind the Hildeby for Paul trade.
“I’d say we scoured the center market. It’s one of those positions where you never want to be caught in a position where you never have enough, but certainly, as we came in here, we felt like we needed to be better. So we pursued everything, and Nick was a guy that, candidly, we weren’t sure was available,” Chayka said.
“I think it was a good hockey trade. Julien (BriseBois) has got a need (at backup goalie in Tampa Bay) and identified Dennis as a guy who could fill it. Obviously, with our setup, academically, it makes sense to carry three goalies, and you can do that. But realistically and practically, it’s hard, so it’s not ideal. If you can find a hockey trade that makes sense, I think that’s what we were hoping to do.
“The combination of Nick Paul and what we think he can bring to the team and the type of player he is, the type of person, our room was really excited about the potential of that opportunity. And I will just say, obviously with (Artur Akhtyamov) and the way he performed in the playoffs (for the Marlies), he grabbed the net there, and we think he’s as good of a goalie prospect as there is in the league, that gives us a lot of faith in the future of our goaltending, and certianly with Sergei today and with Anthony, we feel that we’ve got a great goaltending pipeline now.”
Nick Paul Is a Nice Pickup For Maple Leafs
While losing Hildeby isn’t ideal, since he did play very well for the team last year and would have been a great third-string goalie, getting a solid bottom-six player like Paul is a nice pickup for Toronto.
Although Paul is coming off a rough year for the Lightning, where he scored just 7 goals and 15 points in 51 games, he had scored over 20 goals and 40 points in the two seasons before that. The Maple Leafs are hoping that last year was just a blip on the radar for Paul and that he can get back to being the player that he was before that, when he was a key bottom-six forward for the Lightning and the Ottawa Senators before that.
As Chayka said, it’s always nice to have extra center depth on the roster, so having someone like Paul come into the team’s bottom six is certainly a great addition to go along with other moves that the team made on July 1, including signing Jack Roslovic, another 20-goal scorer who will fit in well in the team’s middle of the order.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post John Chayka Explains Why He Traded Dennis Hildeby appeared first on HEAVY.