Two Teams Rule Themselves Out For UFA Dillon Dube

Dillon Dube, formerly of the Calgary Flames, waits for face off

While Dillon Dube has been given the green light to return to the NHL as of December 1, and sign a contract by Oct. 15, two teams' general managers have made it clear that their clubs will not be in the running to sign him.

Dube and four of his 2018 Team Canada World Junior Championship teammates were acquitted by a London, Ont. judge this summer in the very public sexual assault case brought against them.

But according to two separate reports, he will not be on the radar of his old club the Calgary Flames, or another rumored suitor, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Calgary Flames out on Dillon Dube

From the Calgary Sun, we learned whether GM Craig Conroy would ever think about bringing back the middle-six forward.

“At this point, no,” Conroy said at a press conference on Wednesday. “I think Dillon probably just needs a fresh start.”

The 'fresh start' angle seems to be the prevailing theory for all of the five players, as we also heard that as the reason that goalie Carter Hart will not be considering re-signing with the Philadelphia Flyers.

As for Dube, he spent the first six years of his career in Calgary, after the Flames made him the 56th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

He had 57 goals and 127 points in an average time on ice of 13:25 over his 325 games.

Toronto Maple Leafs are NOT in on Dillon Dube

Despite a rumor that emerged earlier this week, Leafs GM Brad Treliving has denied that he'd have any interest at this time in bringing his former Flames forward to Toronto. Treliving is the man who drafted Dube for Calgary, and signed him to his last contract.

“Yes, I know Dillon," said the Leafs GM, "but you have to be in a very comfortable situation to think about that, and that’s not our focus...

“I heard there was some noise out there... We’re not focused on that right now... We’d have to go through a process with everything that happened.”

The Leafs are in the market for a top-six forward, but whether Dube could even fit that role is another question altogether. The team has a lot of bodies in camp up front.

As with four of the 'Hockey Canada Five', Dube last played in the NHL in January 2024. Alex Formenton was already out of the NHL and playing in Switzerland at the time the charges were laid.