Alex Galchenyuk Changing Maple Leafs Trade Focus

When Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas acquired Alex Galchenyuk from the Carolina Hurricanes he knew there would be a chance the young journeyman would find his game with his hockey team and that's certainly been the case. Because of Galchenyuk's strong play Dubas no longer is working day and night to find another top-six forward and is exploring other trades.

The Leafs GM met with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and had this to say about his new second-line left-winger:

I think the emergence of Galchenyuk playing with John and William, both in terms of the fact he's produced a little bit but in terms of how hard he's playing and the effectiveness that he's brought to the group, I think certainly reduces the urgency.

But with all that said, if we can do something that we think is going to be a good fit in the locker room and on the ice, I think we would still very openly explore that.

Galchenyuk has meshed well with John Tavares and William Nylander and has shown he's willing to battle and work hard every shift. The offense is starting to come and Galchenyuk is getting scoring chances each game he's playing.

As for the Leafs they are interested in adding to almost all elements of their team including a third-line center, depth defenseman and veteran goaltender. Names like Jamie Oleksiak, Tyler Bozak and David Rittich have all been linked to the Leafs recently. Look for management to do whatever they can to add as this season is 'all-in' for the franchise.