Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors! The NHL Draft is history, and every team has high hopes for the prospects they add. Now, with free agency moves mostly done, rumors are still around. Clubs are always working to improve their rosters for next season. Some teams are having difficulty creating enough cap space to make moves. Others are experiencing severe injuries to star players. The new 2022-23 season will begin on October 7th. In this Sunday edition of NHL Rumors, we will take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, and the Boston Bruins.
Toronto Maple Leafs – Kyle Dubas
Rumor – Per – Adam Proteau – thehockeynews.com. The pressure for the Toronto Maple Leafs to finally make it out of the first round continues in 2022-23. All eyes will be on GM Kyle Dubas again this year.
After adding two new goalies in Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, Dubas is hoping to end the embarrassing playoff record the Toronto club has endured. Dubas is banking his future on Murray coming back to form after a less than respectable showing last season in Ottawa. He was only able to collect a 5-12-2 record with a .906 save percentage and a disappointing 3.05 goals-against-average.
The Leafs are a very talented offensive team. But they need to get some decent goaltending as well as defensive efforts to break the first-round playoff spell. The fanbase won’t have it anymore; Dubas will be under intense scrutiny to improve the team’s fate in the postseason. There just can’t be any more excuses for this team to continually be eliminated in the first round. So, Murray’s performance becomes especially imperative for Dubas to remain the GM. Pressure? You bet!
New York Rangers – Nils Lundkvist
Rumor – Per – Nathan Smith – nhltraderumors.me. The Swedish defenseman who was drafted 28th in 2018 has struggled and it may be time to see what he brings back in a trade.