\nDo they keep the No. 1 pick and draft Gavin McKenna<\/a> (or Ivar Stenberg<\/a>) with it?
\nDo they move John Tavares from centre to left wing?<\/p>\n
The Knies decision is a big one<\/a>, obviously. Keep him, and the Leafs have one of the top 20-ish best left wingers in hockey in their lineup, whether Knies ends up playing with Auston Matthews again or not. (The NHL still has a hard time listing players at their proper positions. Bobby McMann, for example, is listed as a centre even though he\u2019s never played a single game there in the NHL. But for what it\u2019s worth, Knies ranked 13th among left wingers with 66 points last season.)<\/p>\n Add McKenna (or Stenberg), and suddenly the Leafs are set at top-six left wing for the foreseeable future with two young wingers of considerably different skills: McKenna (age 18), the slick playmaker, and Knies (age 23), the power winger. Both would be candidates to play with Matthews.<\/p>\n The Tavares positional question is a fascinating one. He has spent his entire NHL career (and likely his entire playing career, period) at centre. But he\u2019ll be 36 in September and heading into his 18th season. Moving him to the wing would lessen his nightly burden considerably \u2014 and keep him fresher for the playoffs, assuming the Leafs can get back there next spring.<\/p>\n Tavares played left wing for Team Canada at men\u2019s worlds last month and put together a solid tournament: three goals, 6 points in 10 games.<\/p>\n Is it more advantageous for the Leafs to have Tavares as their third-line centre or second-line left wing? It\u2019s probably the latter as third-line centres are much more readily available in free agency than second-line wings. A second-line left winger, mind you, making only $4.39 million cap dollars in Tavares\u2019 case.<\/p>\n \n Matthew Knies is the Leafs\u2019 top left winger \u2014 at the moment. (Troy Parla \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n But here\u2019s where it gets complicated. Slide Tavares over to the wing, keep Knies, draft McKenna, and who gets the top two slots?<\/p>\n On merit, it\u2019s Knies and Tavares. But what would that mean for McKenna? Playing him on a third line as a teenage rookie would ease the competition he faces, but it would also have him playing with lesser linemates. And if the Leafs\u2019 new coach, whoever that may be, intends on asking less of a Matthews-led top line than Craig Berube did, the team must deploy its second and\/or third line more often in those spots. Not the right usage, in short, for either McKenna or Tavares.<\/p>\n Trade Knies, on the other hand, and the Leafs could conceivably use McKenna with Matthews, put Tavares on the wing of the second line and then create a defense-minded third line of some kind.<\/p>\n They might still want another winger who can step into top-six minutes if needed. Is there still going to be a place for Matias Maccelli, a pending RFA? Should there be a place?<\/p>\n Fourth-line left wing, meanwhile, figures to go to Dakota Joshua (assuming he\u2019s not traded) or Steven Lorentz, though the Leafs could certainly use a more distinct energy type down there, too.<\/p>\n Centre<\/p>\n The current options: Matthews, Tavares (?)<\/p>\n There has been plenty of talk (and rightly so) about the need for the Leafs to improve on defence. The middle of the ice, though, is equally in need of repairs \u2013 and might be the sleeper issue of the summer.<\/p>\n Right now, it\u2019s Matthews and \u2026 who?<\/p>\n Acquiring someone to play in front of Tavares down the middle (and maybe even with him) remains a huge challenge. There are zero top-six options in free agency, not after the Columbus Blue Jackets locked up Charlie Coyle on a six-year contract in May. Which means it\u2019s only through trade that Chayka is solving this need. The trick will be finding enough assets to check that box as well as the one on the back end.<\/p>\n I mentioned Nico Hischier recently<\/a> as a dream possibility. Dylan Larkin has emerged as an option<\/a>, potentially. Robert Thomas might be one, too. Elias Pettersson would be a high-risk (to say the least), high-reward kind of play. Ryan O\u2019Reilly, on the other hand, would be low-risk in the last year of his contract.<\/p>\n Maybe the most realistic option is New York Rangers centre (and U.S. Olympian) Vincent Trocheck, who has three years left on his contract at a cap hit of $5.6 million. Trocheck, who had 16 goals and 53 points in 67 games last season, would be just the kind of strong two-way (and right-handed) centre the Leafs need to remove some of Matthews\u2019 defensive burden.<\/p>\n He is turning 33 in July, so he\u2019s more of a short-term option.<\/p>\n \n Vincent Trocheck would be a strong No. 2 behind Auston Matthews \u2014 if the Leafs can swing a trade with the Rangers. (Wendell Cruz \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n But what does he cost? The Rangers could be eyeing a scoring winger and might just ask for Knies, which should be an easy no for the Leafs given Trocheck\u2019s age and ability. Would Chayka dangle 20-year-old Easton Cowan instead? Dealing an intriguing young forward for a 33-year-old, albeit one at a position of need, might not be the wisest move for the Leafs. Would Cowan, plus other future goodies (maybe the Colorado Avalanche\u2019s 2027 first) be enough for New York?<\/p>\n A 1-2-3 at centre of Matthews, Trocheck and Tavares would be a big improvement on last season (and the one before that), albeit also on the older side. And after trading Scott Laughton at the trade deadline in the spring, the Leafs will need to procure a fourth-line centre this summer \u2014 with all due respect to Bo Groulx and Jacob Quillan.<\/p>\n Right wing<\/p>\n The current options: William Nylander, Easton Cowan, Nick Robertson, Max Domi (injured), Dakota Joshua, Steven Lorentz<\/p>\n The Leafs have one of the top right wingers in the league in William Nylander. It gets murky after that.<\/p>\n Easton Cowan will, if he\u2019s not moved (or playing left wing), fill one spot in the top nine and maybe even in the top six. Even if he never ends up becoming a star, Cowan feels like one of those forwards who will impress most next to top-tier talent. He\u2019ll bring out more from them, and they\u2019ll bring out more from him. The sample is super small, just 56 minutes, but the Leafs crushed teams when Cowan was out there with Knies and Matthews (61 percent expected goals rate).<\/p>\n Is Cowan ready for a top-line shot right now? That feels aggressive after an up-and-down rookie year. Ideally, Chayka can acquire more of a sure thing for Matthews\u2019 right wing next season.<\/p>\n Alex Tuch, the top free agent on the market this summer, would clearly be an upgrade on the mishmash of wingers who played there last season. But is he the right bet<\/a> at this point? Tuch just turned 30, he\u2019s never hit 80 points in a season, he didn\u2019t record a single point in the Buffalo Sabres\u2019 second-round loss to the Montreal Canadiens, and he\u2019s sure to command a huge contract in free agency. He also isn\u2019t the playmaking winger Matthews needs \u2014 though maybe McKenna will fill that role on left wing.<\/p>\n Patrick Kane and Claude Giroux could be solid stopgap options if either chose to leave their teams, the Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators. Or the next coach of the Leafs could decide to do what Berube wouldn\u2019t and play Nylander with Matthews on the regular.<\/p>\n One low-key deja vu kind of decision here for the Leafs (but not Chayka) is what to do with Robertson, a pending RFA once again July 1. Should the team hang on to him once more or finally let him go?<\/p>\n![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2267759157-scaled.jpg\")
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