The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to be the talk of the offseason. After hiring Mats Sundin as the Senior Executive Advisor of Hockey Operations and John Chayka as the new general manager, the Maple Leafs traded Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit to the Philadelphia Flyers for Samuel Ersson and Emil Andrae.
Both Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers Can Benefit From Their Hockey Trade
Then, on Wednesday, June 17th, the Maple Leafs hired Jim Hiller as their next head coach. Chayka and Sundin want to turn this team into a playoff team right away. They have opened up $5 million in cap space with work to do reshaping the blue line and the forward group.
We know the Toronto Maple Leafs have the first overall pick next Friday at the 2026 NHL Draft. Given what they have done, nothing can be ruled out, even though the expectation is that they take Gavin McKenna number one overall. Still the NHL and Free Agency is the last time we hear about the Maple Leafs
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet joined SiriusXM NHL Network Radio Morning Skate with Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin and was asked: given what the Toronto Maple Leafs have done over the last couple of days, will they remain active this offseason?
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
The Philadelphia Flyers May Not be Done Dealing, and Want Two Extensions Done
Scott Laughlin: “Are you expecting Friedge, because we saw the deal with Philadelphia, and I like the deal for Philly in what they picked up in some complimentary pieces, and a backup at the very least in Joseph Woll, who’s better than what they had. Obviously adding some size and physicality, and Simon Benoit.
The Leafs get, as John Chayka put it optionality, which, in other words, means a little bit of cap considerations and a little bit more, more money to spend. Are you expecting this team, aside from being on the clock for the first pick next Friday night, to be very active here in the coming weeks?”
Elliotte Friedman: “I am, because that move , like they cleared $5 million in capital. I assume Andrae is going to play for them. I am not so sure about Ersson. Ersson has an arb case, right? So, he’s probably going to come in. I was asking somebody yesterday; his qualifying offer is $1.4 million, I think, or $1.6 million, like in that area, and his arb case could be close to $3 million.
Somebody was telling me. So I’m not so sure they’re going to qualify him. I’m not certain, and if you saw the scrum or the Zoom yesterday with Chayka, he indicated that he wasn’t. They made no commitment one way or the other, so that’s a lot more flexibility. I think we should be expecting just about anything.”
It will be interesting to see what the Leafs do with Ersson. Could they flip him for another asset or not qualify him? If they don’t qualify him, then the trade was just a cap dump of Woll. Again, hard to judge a trade until the dust settles.
However, the Toronto Maple Leafs are doing everything they can to keep Auston Matthews moving forward. It is clear that John Chayka is reshaping the team in his vision.
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