Photo credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have a found a diamond in the rough in Dennis Hildeby, whom one reputable NHL Insider believes is a hot commodity among rival NHL GMs.

Earlier this summer, the Nashville Predators dealt former 1st round pick and elite goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to the San Jose Sharks. At a point, there was a report circulating, suggesting that Toronto could be a potential landing spot for Askarov. However, with the emergence of Dennis Hildeby as a legitimate NHL prospect, the Leafs may have just not felt as though they had a real need for an upgrade at the position. For all intents and purposes, they may view Hildeby as a future star.

As it turns out, the Maple Leafs are not the only team who views Hildeby as a potential star goalie. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman revealed on his most recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast that there were actually teams who reached out to Leafs GM Brad Treliving about acquiring Hildeby from the Leafs last season, but he was very clear on the fact that the Leafs were not entertaining the idea of moving the young netminder.
“Hildeby, who played the whole game and won [on Saturday], someone said to me he was by far the Leafs’ best prospect in the American Hockey League last year, and there’s nothing we’ve seen so far that disputes that.

I’m pretty sure they got asked about him last year, and I don’t think they ever considered it seriously, and you can see that they have — I think they’re starting to have bigger future plans for this guy.”
Hildeby put together a wonderful rookie season in the AHL last year, setting a Marlies franchise record for most wins by a rookie goalie with 21. The 6-foot-7, 222-pound Swedish netminder posted a 21-11-7 record to go along with a 2.41 GAA and a .913 SV% in 41 games.

Friedman did not reveal which teams he believes had an interest in acquiring Hildeby, but the fact that the Leafs shot down the trade offers does suggest that they’re high on this kid.

Hildeby did receive a call-up from the Leafs last season, playing in a backup role for Martin Jones while Joseph Woll was injured and Ilya Samsonov was struggling. Perhaps this will finally be the year where he makes his much anticipated NHL debut.