Toronto Maple Leafs GM John Chayka met with media to share his thoughts on his team's acquisition of Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets. This move caps off a transformative first off-season in the Maple Leafs' front office, and he deserves credit for his efforts.
John Chayka deserves to take a bow. At the very least, he is owed an apology.
The Toronto Maple Leafs GM was criticized and called many unkind things upon his somewhat shocking hire on May 3, including a "con artist" by a local columnist. But the term that Chayka assigned himself after a busy off-season was "patiently aggressive."
Well, I don't know about being patient.
In just less than five months, Chayka has turned over this roster in a way that many did not think was possible.
He signed two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, acquired the rights to defenseman Darren Raddysh and swung for the fences by trading Matthew Knies to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko.
Including first-overall pick Gavin McKenna, there should be 10 different players in the lineup for the season opener who did not suit up for the Maple Leafs last season.
"We made a lot of changes. It will be good to drop the puck tonight," Chayka told reporters on the morning of the season-opener against the Montreal Canadiens. "We're not going to do anything before tonight, I would guess. But then we'll react as the team plays.
"We feel like we've amassed future capital. But if there's something available and makes our team better, we're still in a position to do that."
Change was necessary after a season in which Toronto finished with 28th in the league standings. The Maple Leafs, who looked too slow, too easy to play against and not as offensively dangerous as they once were, should be a faster, more defensive and balanced team with these new additions.
Marchenko, who scored 27 goals and 67 points on a very bad Columbus team last year, is a more skilled version of Knies. McKenna is the closest thing that Toronto has had in a playmaker since Mitch Marner. And in Bobrovsky, the Maple Leafs finally have a legitimate No. 1 goalie — albeit, one who just turned 38 a week ago.
Is this a Stanley Cup contender? Well, let's see them make the playoffs first. But on paper, this looks like one of the best teams Toronto has iced in a very long time.
"I think our expectations are really high," said Chayka. "Again, we're the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ownership has spared no expense to put the best product on the ice and support the guys and give us every resource to be successful."
There's going to be risks. No one knows whether Chris Tanev, who played just 11 games this season, will be able to stay healthy. Or whether Bobrovsky can still perform at the level he had when he took Florida to the three straight Stanley Cup finals.
Or whether Marchenko, who Columbus didn't really want around anymore, can benefit from a change of scenery — and some really good linemates.
"The most simple way I can put it is there's a lot of good players in the NHL. Very few that can impact winning and single-handedly dictate the outcome of games," said Chayka. "We believe Kirill is one of those players for us. You have to give up quality to get quality.
"We gave up some quality people and some quality players, but ultimately my job is to always make the team as best as possible — and not just collect talent, but put together a team that fits and works."
It's a stark contrast to how Chayka's predecessors operated.
For years, Maple Leafs GMs were afraid to rip off the Band-Aid and trade away core players, choosing instead to reshuffle the deck chairs. But Chayka is not like most GMs. He knows that Knies, who regressed last season, could very well turn into a unicorn and become the kind of power forward that a Cup-contending team like Toronto needs.
At the same time, he also knows that if the Maple Leafs are going to make a long playoff run, then they'll need someone who can be an offensive game-changer and take some of the pressure off Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
"That's the bet," Chayka said of trading Knies for Marchenko. "We all know what he's done in Columbus and it's been leading his team and being an important player. No different than Columbus is making a bet on what Matthew will do in a different environment, we're doing the same.
"We expect that with the center group we have, the linemates that we can match him with, the situation we can put him in here, there's more upside."
The same might be true of the Maple Leafs.
Where there was misery a year ago, there is now optimism. And much of that is because of Chayka, who heads into the season with more upside than he did when he was hired back in May.
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