Nicolas Aube-Kubel signs with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The solid bottom 6 player was a cap casualty of the Avs and will be moving north for the 2022-23 season. Nicolas Aube-Kubel signed a 1-year deal for $1 million with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Colorado Avalanche non-tendered him earlier this week, making him a free agent, and he signed for a little bit less than the value of his qualifying offer had the Avalanche extended one to him.
Aube-Kubel was released by the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2021-22 season and Colorado picked him up off waivers. He played fairly well for the Avs this year, scoring a career-high 11 goals in 67 games while playing on the third and fourth lines. His play was a little up and down in the playoffs, but he still suited up for 14 games. That said, it was clear by the end of the Stanley Cup Final that Aube-Kubel was on the outside looking in on Avalanche lineups, and they needed to trim some salary in order to bring back major players like Josh Manson and Valeri Nichushkin, and Aube-Kubel was the price they had to pay to free up room for more important pieces.
Toronto is getting a solid player at a good price, but that still hasn’t stopped Leaf's fans from making obvious jokes about the man who dented the Stanley Cup.
OK honestly the Leafs signing the guy who couldn't handle the Stanley Cup is a little too on-the-nose. https://t.co/4JoYaL9aji— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) July 13, 2022
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