Kyle Dubas doesn't appear too concerned two of his best players could be targeted by opposing clubs in restricted free agency.
The Toronto Maple Leafs general manager downplayed the potential danger of having to match offer sheets for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the summer of 2019.
“When I look around the league right now, for whatever reason, it seems like the Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team that is going to be a target of an offer sheet. Seems interesting to me," Dubas told reporters, including NHL.com's Dave McCarthy, on Monday.
"Our salary cap situation is set up (in a way) that we could defend any of those threats with no worry at all," the Leafs GM added. "They've become a huge topic of late, but I spend zero percent of my time having any worry about that."
Both Matthews and Marner are pending RFAs who could be signed to offer sheets if Toronto doesn't sign them to extensions before July 1. The Leafs are expected to have more than $23 million in cap space for 2019-20.
Dubas said Monday he is actively trying to get the Matthews and Marner deals done before July 1.
"We continue to have discussions with (Matthews' agent) Judd Moldaver and (Marner's representative) Darren Ferris, and both of their camps," the GM told McCarthy. "It will be our intention to try to get those (done) as soon as possible."
Toronto forward William Nylander reached restricted free agency last summer and missed roughly the first two months of this season while negotiating a new deal. The two sides eventually agreed upon a contract minutes before the deadline at 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 1.
