UPDATE: The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded winger Matthew Knies, defenseman Emil Andrae, and winger Steven Lorentz and a conditional second-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for winger Kirill Marchenko, winger Miles Wood, and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (with 18% salary retained). Agent Dan Milstein announced on X that the Leafs and Marchenko have verbally agreed to a six-year, $75 million contract extension starting in the 2027-28 season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will open the 2026-27 regular season on Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena, but just over 24 hours before they drop the puck, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that the club is working on a potential trade involving Columbus Blue Jackets winger Kirill Marchenko.
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The 26-year-old right winger is in the final year of a three-year deal at $3.85 million and has scored 20 or more goals in all four of his NHL seasons, and let the Blue Jackets know over the summer that he would not re-sign in Columbus after his deal expired. Marchenko is two years away from unrestricted free agency and is arbitration-eligible next summer.
Both TSN’s Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun reported that the Leafs have been given permission to talk to agent Dan Milstein to see if Toronto can agree on a possible extension before consummating the deal, and that the deal involved multiple pieces. LeBrun indicated that the deal on the Leafs’ side would involve Matthew Knies going to Columbus, and Johnston said that the multiple pieces are involved in “the brewing trade to help with cap offset ahead of Monday’s 5 p.m. ET opening night roster deadline.
The acquisition of Marchenko makes sense in that the Russian winger is a sniper and is a right-hand shot, capable of playing in the top six, where the Leafs have Jack Roslovic playing on the top line with Auston Matthews. Toronto is stocked on the left side, with Knies, Easton Cowan, and rookie Gavin McKenna. The concern on the part of Toronto is what the 26-year-old will be looking for on a new deal. Knies is 23 and a pretty dependable 25-30 goal scorer who is locked up at a very cap-friendly $7.75 million AAV until 2031.
If Marchenko is looking for an amount more than $10 million per season on a new deal, it is hard to fathom why the Leafs would give up a player three years younger for someone who may only be marginally better offensively. If GM John Chayka is not able to get the winger on a deal, the trade could potentially fall apart.
Will update
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