![\"Auston](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2253738187-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNew general manager John Chayka said the Toronto Maple Leafs would need a high \u201chit rate\u201d this offseason to turn things around in a meaningful way next season.<\/p>\n
Hit on what exactly? These are the big priorities (in no particular order) for Chayka and the front office.<\/p>\n
1. Win over Matthews<\/p>\n
Any determination on next steps for the Leafs begins at the top with captain Auston Matthews.<\/p>\n
Chayka is going to have to convince Matthews that the team can turn things around in short order. Not by what he says, but by what he does. Matthews is going to be closely watching how the new Leafs GM improves the roster this offseason \u2014 or not.<\/p>\n
If that makes it feel like an audition for Chayka, that\u2019s because it is.<\/p>\n
The results of that audition could end up determining the direction the Leafs ultimately go. If Matthews is sold, at least initially, the Leafs will remain in retool mode. If he\u2019s not, and decides he\u2019d like to go elsewhere, the Leafs will probably have to pivot into a rebuild of some kind centered around potential No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna.<\/p>\n
Chayka could try to aggressively bolster the roster, either through trade or free agency, only to learn later that Matthews isn\u2019t a fan of what he did and wants to go elsewhere anyway. Which means the Leafs GM could set his new team back even further if he doesn\u2019t get this right.<\/p>\n
That includes a decision on head coach Craig Berube. Matthews had the two worst seasons of his career under Berube. Does he want to keep playing for this coach?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Can the Leafs make Auston Matthews happy this offseason? (Vaughn Ridley \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Matthews isn\u2019t expected to offer the Leafs any confirmation on his wishes until he sees what\u2019s been done. It\u2019s possible the team won\u2019t know until early or even mid-July whether their captain is on board.<\/p>\n
Even then, his desire to stick around could be temporary.<\/p>\n
If things look good next season, all of this cools until next summer, when Matthews becomes eligible to extend his contract. If they go poorly, it\u2019s entirely possible the Leafs have to deal with a Quinn Hughes-like situation involving trading their captain midseason.<\/p>\n
The importance of all this can\u2019t be understated. It will be franchise-defining. If Matthews isn\u2019t sold on the Leafs, now or later, there will be an eruption in Toronto with Chayka, already under major scrutiny, embarking on a trade of the franchise\u2019s all-time leading goal getter. It would become the biggest story of the summer, not just in Toronto but in the NHL, and maybe the most significant trade in more than 100 years of Leafs history.<\/p>\n
And it would be complicated. Matthews has a full no-movement clause in his contract, which means he is being traded in this scenario only where he wants to go.<\/p>\n
2. Pick a head coach<\/p>\n
Chayka spoke highly of Berube at his introductory press conference and said he was open to the idea of the 60-year-old returning behind the bench next season. In the end, he may still feel his team has no choice but to move on from a coach who struggled so badly last season.<\/p>\n
What will come from discussions between the incumbent coach and the new front-office duo of Chayka and franchise legend Mats Sundin? Will Berube pin blame for the woes of last season on the limitations of the roster (i.e., Treliving\u2019s work as GM), injuries and a condensed schedule? Will he point to the team\u2019s relative success under his watch in 2024-25? Will he sell them on his ability to navigate the road ahead with an improved roster?<\/p>\n
What will the players say about Berube in their coming interactions with management? Will Matthews and William Nylander go to bat for their head coach? Do the Leafs want Berube coaching McKenna, if he is indeed the pick, at the outset of his NHL career?<\/p>\n
If not, and Chayka and Sundin determine a change is necessary and win ownership\u2019s support for such a move, their next challenge is landing a replacement. One tremendously qualified candidate is still sitting out there in Bruce Cassidy.<\/p>\n
3. Nail the first-overall pick and score some gems later on<\/p>\n
McKenna appears to be the likeliest selection with only the third No. 1 pick in Leafs history, following Wendel Clark in 1985 and Matthews in 2016. It\u2019s also possible, of course, that the Leafs choose Ivar Stenberg, another talented winger, or Chase Reid, the right-shooting top-rated defenceman.<\/p>\n
Do they prefer Stenberg for his skill and the apparent NHL readiness he\u2019d bring next fall? Do they try to land the No. 1 defenceman this franchise has lacked since B\u00f6rje Salming and take Reid? Or do they simply go for the player with the highest upside in McKenna?<\/p>\n
Whatever they do, they need to get this massive gift of good fortune right.<\/p>\n
The Leafs will have some other picks: a second, a third, a fourth, two fifths and a sixth. Unearthing some gems in the later rounds has been a struggle for this organization. More cheap, young help would be valuable for the road ahead.<\/p>\n
4. Acquire a second-line centre<\/p>\n
For years, the Leafs wrestled with the idea of upgrading on an aging John Tavares in the No. 2 centre\u2019s spot but never landed on a solution. The closest they got was Ryan O\u2019Reilly at the 2023 trade deadline.<\/p>\n
The time for change is overdue now, with Tavares turning 36 in September. What do they do to upgrade in this not-easy-to-upgrade position?<\/p>\n
The free-agent market has one very viable short-term option in Charlie Coyle. He had a strong season for Columbus last season, but he is also 34 and probably won\u2019t come cheap given the lack of quality centres on the market.<\/p>\n
If not Coyle, the Leafs could turn to the trade route. There are some interesting theoretical possibilities with varying degrees of risk.<\/p>\n
The riskiest of them all, with the highest upside to match, would be Elias Pettersson. Pettersson is coming off two very underwhelming seasons and his contract is sizable, with six more years to go and a giant cap hit of $11.6 million. Pettersson is still just 27, though, and only a few years removed from some monster seasons with the Canucks \u2014 including a 39-goal, 102-point 2022-23 campaign.<\/p>\n
What would it even take to acquire a player like him, with that contract and talent? The upside could be tremendous, but so could the downside.<\/p>\n
Another risky, if less so, bet: Mika Zibanejad. He turned 33 last month and still has four years left on his deal, with a cap hit of $8.5 million. He had 34 goals and 78 points for the Rangers last season. He\u2019s a bit younger than Tavares and might click on a line with Nylander, a fellow Swede.<\/p>\n
Would the Rangers give him up for a modest price given the size of his contract, or would the Leafs be better off chasing his teammate Vincent Trocheck instead, given his contract (with three years left and a $5.6 million cap hit) is smaller? A limited pool of trade assets might price the Leafs out of that conversation and others, especially with glaring needs elsewhere on the roster.<\/p>\n
Chayka could take another run at bringing O\u2019Reilly back to Toronto for the last year of his contract ($4.5 million). Or, and I say this only half in jest, the Leafs could actually give Nylander a legitimate try at centre.<\/p>\n
5. Trade some defencemen<\/p>\n
Chayka said improving the defence will be a priority for the front office. And if that\u2019s the case, the Leafs GM is going to have to move some players out, because everyone, with the exception of Troy Stecher, is under contract.<\/p>\n
The likeliest candidates to go might be Brandon Carlo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Simon Benoit and Morgan Rielly.<\/p>\n
Carlo would probably be the easiest to move. He plays a coveted position on right defence, he has only one year left on his contract at a mild cap hit of $3.48 million and he has only an eight-team no-trade list. Ekman-Larsson has 16 teams on his no-trade list, meanwhile, and two more years left on his contract with a cap hit of $3.5 million. He turns 35 in July.<\/p>\n
Rielly\u2019s contract is the most bloated of the bunch, with another four years to go and a cap hit of $7.5 million. He also has a full no-movement clause.<\/p>\n
Does the new front office believe they can rehabilitate his career, especially if they make a change at head coach? Like Matthews, Rielly had the two worst seasons of his career playing for Berube.<\/p>\n
What if, on the other hand, Chayka wants to move on from Rielly and intends to press him on it? Is Rielly willing to go, and is there a team he\u2019d move to that\u2019s also interested in his services?<\/p>\n
6. Add some defencemen<\/p>\n
If one, two or even three blueliners go out, the Leafs will need to both replace and upgrade with defencemen who can more capably and confidently move the puck and boost the offence. In an ideal world, Chayka finally succeeds where so many of his predecessors have failed by landing a legitimate No. 1 defenceman. As always, how the Leafs pull that off remains the question.<\/p>\n
The trade route could be interesting. What if, for instance, 2020 Norris Trophy winner Roman Josi decides he would like to play somewhere other than Nashville next season? Josi has two years remaining on his deal with a cap hit of $9 million. Given he turns 36 in June, is he too old for the Leafs to consider, especially if the cost were to include a prized piece like Knies? Or is it worth it if it keeps Matthews around and ups the Leafs\u2019 Stanley Cup contention chances in the near term?<\/p>\n
Zach Werenski, meanwhile, hasn\u2019t made the playoffs in Columbus since 2020. If he ever desired a future elsewhere, could the Leafs put together enough assets for the Blue Jackets to consider a swap?<\/p>\n
Dougie Hamilton, still with a pricey $9 million cap hit for next season and the one after that and no longer a No. 1 in New Jersey, could be worth it if the cost is minimal.<\/p>\n
Knies is the most attractive trade chip the Leafs have to dangle in deals for a defenceman, especially if the team takes another winger, McKenna or Stenberg, with the top pick. It gets thin as far as assets after that: Ben Danford, Colorado\u2019s first-round pick in 2027, Easton Cowan, one of the goalie prospects. Trading the No. 1 overall pick, a gift from the lottery gods, feels like a no-go unless a team like Vancouver bowls the Leafs over with an offer they can\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n
There are two potential free-agent defencemen who aren\u2019t quite No. 1s but would be No. 1s in Toronto: Rasmus Andersson and Darren Raddysh. The problem is both will be 30 next season and figure to be overpaid.<\/p>\n
In addition to a headliner who can ideally run the power play, the front office should be looking to inject one or two more blueliners for the bottom half of their defence: another solid puck mover and\/or a chippy veteran, both of which are available in free agency.<\/p>\n
![\"llya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2268210011-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Former Leaf Ilya Mikheyev is back on the market this summer. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
7. Inject more speed and defensive acumen into the forward ranks<\/p>\n
The forward group last season wasn\u2019t just slow. It lacked capable defenders, a gradual drain that began after the 2022-23 season when the likes of O\u2019Reilly, Noel Acciari, Alex Kerfoot, David K\u00e4mpf and, of course, Mitch Marner all left and weren\u2019t adequately replaced. Ideally for the Leafs, Chayka comes up with two or three speedy middle-six forwards who can also defend.<\/p>\n
One option he might consider for another go-around in Toronto: Ilya Mikheyev, a pending UFA.<\/p>\n
The new Leafs GM should also be looking for ways out of problematic forward contracts that don\u2019t help either the speed or defensive causes \u2014 namely, Dakota Joshua and Max Domi.<\/p>\n
Whether Chayka would be willing to move Domi is an open question given their longstanding relationship. Chayka said defensive improvement is a top priority. Is removing the weakest defender?<\/p>\n
8. Pick a lane in goal<\/p>\n
Technically, Chayka and company could do nothing here \u2026 which, I guess, is picking a lane.<\/p>\n
Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll are both under contract for next season and so is Dennis Hildeby. But with Hildeby requiring waivers for the first time next fall, the Leafs could seek to move someone.<\/p>\n
Woll would presumably be the easiest to deal given his age, contract and upside. However, those are precisely the reasons for keeping him around. It\u2019s hard to imagine Hildeby boasting much, if any, trade value given his very limited track record. And Stolarz? Next season will be the first on the four-year extension he signed last fall. After another injury-plagued season, where his performance also suffered, his value couldn\u2019t possibly be lower.<\/p>\n
The easy thing to do here is nothing. All the more so given the ongoing injury risk with Woll and Stolarz, the latter of whom got injured again at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
9. Determine the future of RFAs<\/p>\n
The two big ones here, relatively speaking, are Matias Maccelli and Nick Robertson. Bringing back both seems unnecessary given their (somewhat) one-dimensional skill sets and the need to switch things up in the forward bunch.<\/p>\n
Maccelli has a better case to come back than Robertson. He had an OK season considering his sometimes unusual deployment under Berube. He\u2019s only a year older (26 in October) than Robertson (25 in September). Chayka also happens to be the GM who drafted him way back in 2019 with the Arizona Coyotes, for what that\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s possible the front office lets both walk away this summer, whether Berube is returning or not.<\/p>\n
10. Remake the front office<\/p>\n
Chayka is going to want to bring in his own people at some point, and also potentially let go of staff from the previous regime. Sundin may also want to make hires of his own. What becomes of Brandon Pridham, a Brendan Shanahan hire way back in 2014, as well as the other four assistant GMs?<\/p>\n
This will be an offseason of major change in Toronto. It already has been, with so much more still to come.<\/p>\n
Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New general manager John Chayka said the Toronto Maple Leafs would need a high \u201chit rate\u201d this offseason…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99,1788],"class_list":["post-629117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-toronto-maple-leafs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}