Dubas willing to trade top prospect to improve Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said he's willing to trade a top prospect to help his club's chances in 2021, according to The Athletic's Joshua Kloke.

The April 12 trade deadline was a prominent talking point during Dubas' mid-season availability Tuesday, and the general manager divulged that he hopes to complete a trade sooner than later to mitigate the 14-day quarantine period between Canada and the United States. He added that he'd prefer a rental player due to the flat salary cap, and Toronto is keen on bolstering its forward group.

"We had to move out some forwards that were good for us in order to add on the back end, and thus we feel like that's an area where we may want to look a bit more," Dubas said, per TSN's Kristen Shilton.

Some of Toronto's top prospects include Nick Robertson, Rasmus Sandin, and 2020 first-round pick Rodion Amirov.

The Leafs are right up against the $81.5-million salary cap, so they'd likely need to move a player out or have another team retain salary if a trade is made.

Toronto currently sits sixth in the NHL and first in the North Division with 40 points through 30 games, but its grip on the top spot weakened after losing four of its last five games.