- Dennis Hildeby got the call that he’d been traded to Tampa Bay five minutes before Belgium played Senegal at the World Cup
- The goalie missed the first 45 minutes of the game and had to catch up on it later
- Read below for what Hildeby said about leaving Toronto and sharing a crease with Andrei Vasilevskiy
Dennis Hildeby found out he’d been traded the way nobody wants to, right as a good soccer game was about to start.
The former Maple Leafs goalie told a Swedish outlet that his phone rang about five minutes before Belgium and Senegal kicked off at the World Cup. Toronto had shipped him to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the call could not have landed at a worse moment.
“I got the phone call about five minutes before Belgium played Senegal,” Hildeby said. “It was definitely a first for me, I’d never experienced being traded before. As a player, you always know it’s possible, so it’s always somewhere in the back of your mind.”
Asked whether he could focus on the match after that, he laughed. He could not.
“I missed the first 45 minutes and then had to catch up afterward.”
The trade went down July 1. Toronto sent Hildeby, a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 third-rounder to Tampa for forward Nick Paul. The Lightning wanted depth in net, and Hildeby gives them a big, young option behind their starter.
That starter happens to be Andrei Vasilevskiy, which is not a bad guy to learn behind. Hildeby isn’t pretending he’s about to steal the job.
“It’s a tough competition, but also something really special and exciting,” Hildeby said. “As a goalie, getting to spend time around someone like him is incredibly valuable. You get to watch him every day and learn from him. He’s a goalie that I’ve looked up to for a long time, so it’s really cool.”
Tampa is already fired up about the fit:
Hildeby spent three seasons in the Toronto organization and grew up fast. He grabbed his first NHL shutout last season, and it came against the Lightning of all teams.
He isn’t forgetting what the city gave him.
“I spent three seasons there and grew a lot, both as a hockey player and a person. I really enjoyed my time there, and there were so many people that took care of me.”
Now he gets a fresh start in Florida and a front-row seat to one of the best goalies alive.
