The notion of the Brad Pack in Calgary reforming Toronto is never far away.

While the early summer after playoff elimination sparked rumours that general manager Brad Treliving would find a way to get his one-time Calgary Flame Nazem Kadri back to Toronto via trade, a much easier re-connection could be made, albeit one fraught with backlash and bad optics.

Analyst Darren Dreger said on TSN’s First Up radio show Monday morning that he “wouldn’t be surprised if Treliving and the Leafs put their hat in the ring and take a decent swing at Dillon Dube”.

That would be Treliving’s former pick and the same centre now without a job along with four other former Canadian world junior players after an investigation into a 2018 hotel room incident in London, Ont., and subsequent police charges of sexual assault. All five, Dube, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton, were found not guilty this summer by a judge who declared the anonymous female complainant’s evidence neither “credible or reliable”.

All five remain under NHL suspension until at least Dec. 1, with goaltender Hart considered the best bet to be the first granted another chance. But Dreger is among those who believes the Treliving connection is strong enough with Dube for consideration of a shot with the Leafs.
The 27-year-old, playing a bottom six position that still needs filling on the Leafs, had back-to-back 18-goal seasons in Calgary under Treliving, and was playing on a three-year $6.9-million US contract. But as a Hockey Canada cover-up of the London case was revealed, Dube left the Flames and spent 2024-25 the KHL with Minsk Dynamo.

LANCE’S TAKE

The possible signing of Dube will come down to how much the Leaf organization as a whole weighs Dube’s on-ice value versus the certain distractions he would cause, not just in Toronto but in other media centres. Then again, Dube might avoid scrutiny in Canada if he were to sign with an American team.

Previous Leaf administrations have offered second chances before to players caught up in minor-legal issues, but nothing to the extent of Dube’s notoriety. It would be much easier for Treliving to let all five be some other GM’s concern and make any upgrades to his forward group from the existing depth chart or trade with another team.

But while the cloud lingers over the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Dube, a second-round draft choice in 2016 and Memorial Cup winner with the WHL Kelowna Rockets, the judge’s verdict might be enough to make the Leafs take the risk and grant Dube a tryout.

Lhornby@postmedia,com
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