Kyle Dubas calls out Blackhawks after Fleury trade talks are leaked to the media

In case you missed it earlier today the Minnesota Wild pulled off the biggest move on the NHL's trade deadline day, picking up reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc Andre Fleury from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for a conditional 2nd round pick.

Interestingly enough though, reports leaked by the media indicated that the Toronto Maple Leafs were deep in discussions with the Blackhawks to acquire Fleury before the veteran netminder was ultimately dealt to the Wild. According to TSN insider Darren Dreger the proposed deal from the Leafs was Fleury and forward Brandon Hagel in exchange for Petr Mrazek, Matthew Knies and a 1st round pick.

When asked by the media today why that trade never materialized, Leafs GM Kyle Dubas was clearly a bit miffed with the information leaking to the public and called out Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson to clear the air himself.

“I’m disappointed that that conversation is public,” Dubas said to Dreger. “I’m not criticizing you, I’ve just never had that before where these specifics like that have been made public. I think, frankly, that’s probably a conversation to ask Kyle Davidson on his availability in Chicago.”

As for Davidson, he responded to Dubas saying essentially that he'll follow up on the matter. "I'm aware of his (Dubas') comments and that's something I'll address in private with Kyle."

To me, this indicates that the leak didn't come from Davidson himself, but likely from one of his staff members. Or, maybe it leaked from one of Dubas' staff members? Dreger is a pretty well connected reporter within both organizations so it's not a stretch to think that he could have been reporting based on information he received from either team.

The fact remains though that Fleury was right there available to the Leafs and yet Dubas turned down the offer. Reports today indicated that it was Dubas himself who turned down the deal, feeling the Leafs would give up too many future assets to acquire a rental in Fleury. To me though, Fleury is absolutely the kind of rental that's worth paying top dollar for. Dubas has made a gamble on his goaltending once again, let's see if it finally pays off for him.