Tinus Luc Koblar Leaves Leksands IF
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Tinus Luc Koblar will exit his club Leksands IF as a result of their relegation to Sweden’s second tier, the HockeyAllsvenskan. Koblar is a 2025 second-round pick of the club and was Toronto’s highest selection of its 2025 draft class. He was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in Toronto’s system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, who called Koblar a “big, strong, sturdy center who can skate.”
Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks Win 2026 NHL Draft Lottery
The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the 2026 NHL draft lottery, shared by the league, which was conducted at the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey this evening. On 8.5% odds, Toronto jumped from #5 to the top selection and will be first on the stage on June 26 in Buffalo.
They were not the only club to have luck on their side, as the San Jose Sharks jumped from #9 to the second overall selection (5.2%), leaving the Vancouver Canucks to drop from the top slot to #3 overall. At this point, with the lottery determined, the 2026 draft’s first 16 selections are now official:
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- San Jose Sharks
- Vancouver Canucks
- Chicago Blackhawks
- New York Rangers
- Calgary Flames
- Seattle Kraken
- Winnipeg Jets
- Florida Panthers
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- St. Louis Blues (from Red Wings)
- Washington Capitals
The Maple Leafs will have their choosing of the first player, for the first time since 2016, where they netted Auston Matthews, a draft which was also held in Buffalo. It will be the third time ever, the first being Wendel Clark in 1985. Of all the lottery scenarios tonight, Toronto’s chances at winning were a wild possibility, and sure enough, it has happened.
After hiring John Chayka as general manager, it was already apparent there’s serious pressure on the new regime to win over Matthews. Things couldn’t be off to better of a start than they are tonight. With a sparse free agent market, and complicated trade assets, the Leafs got a lucky break which has dramatically shifted their outlook. Just hoping to stay in the top five, to avoid relinquishing their pick to Boston as a result of the Brandon Carlo trade, that’s no longer a concern. Boston fans may simply look ahead to next year, but with conditions existing on the Philadelphia/Scott Laughton deal as well, they may have to wait for 2028 to obtain Toronto’s first rounder, while the 2027 selection would end up in the hands of Philadelphia.
Not to be outdone, already building one of the most talented young teams in the league, San Jose will pick #2 for the second consecutive season, despite taking a serious step forward, going 39-35-8 on the back of soon to be 20-year-old Macklin Celebrini‘s 115 points. It’s an embarrassment of riches for a team already thought to have one of the highest ranked prospect pools in the NHL, who will pick in the top five for the fourth straight year.
Gavin McKenna, widely considered to be the top prospect, jumped from Medicine Hat of the WHL to Penn State University in 2025-26, seeking a bigger challenge. Adversity he got, facing questions early on about his production against higher competition, as well as an off the ice incident where charges were eventually dropped. Through it all, the Whitehorse, Yukon native stayed the course, tying for fifth in NCAA scoring with 51 points in 35 games. Barring any major developments, Leaf fans can expect to see #72 in the blue and white next fall, although his immediate full time NHL role is a question mark. Even if not an immediate standout, McKenna’s offensive flair, reminiscent of Patrick Kane, has him a potential star for years to come. It’s about as perfect of a match as the organization could hope for after losing Mitch Marner, as McKenna is a natural wing who could feast alongside Matthews.
Likely missing out on the chance to select McKenna, but certainly not complaining, the Sharks still have a tremendous prospect in their grasp, Ivar Stenberg. The Swedish winger posted 33 points for Frolunda of the SHL, playing against men and coming away fifth in team scoring despite playing in fewer games than teammates. Back in January, the 18-year-old was thought to be emerging as jumping McKenna for the top spot. Largely considered to be a top six lock, with first line upside, Stenberg could be an immediate contributor wearing the teal next season. If so, he’d complete an entire top six corps made up of dynamic young forwards: Celebrini, Will Smith, William Eklund, Michael Misa, and Igor Chernyshov. Clearly not in much need of another forward, Stenberg is likely too strong a prospect to pass on.
Outside of McKenna and Stenberg, holding the highest upside, the field opens up a bit, which is especially cruel to Vancouver, who fell to #3, a range the haven’t found themselves in since selecting the Sedin twins in 1999. Defensemen Chase Reid, Keaton Verhoeff, and Alberts Smits all offer top pairing potential as prospects any team would salivate over. If that’s the path they take, the Canucks would create a tremendous one-two punch with 20-year-old Zeev Buium.
Also worth mentioning, Caleb Malholtra stands out as the top center. Son of longtime NHL center Manny Malholtra, and current head coach of the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, Caleb will benefit from a major breakout campaign with the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs, and being a member of a draft class which is more thin down the middle among the top five. Besides the obvious connections, it will be a story line to watch on if Vancouver passes on the defensemen and considers Malholtra, who will join Boston University next fall.
Last year the New York Islanders jumped from #10 to the top spot. After a solid playoff window, their aging core was running out of juice. There was a fair bit of speculation on if they could select a game-breaking forward such as Misa or go with the top player, defenseman Matthew Schaefer, who lost a large chunk of his draft year due to injury.
New York went with Schaefer, as Misa landed with the Sharks, and the reward was massive. The teenager led all Islanders in ice time, playing over 24 minutes a night, scoring 23 goals and 36 helpers for 59 points in 82 games. The #1 pick finished second in the entire NHL in goal scoring from defensemen, a spectacular campaign for a player who wasn’t even a lock to make the roster. For how good he was as a rookie, it’s scary to think about what is in store. Such is indicative of the power of the draft lottery, and a number which will always be synonymous with Schaefer as an Islander; 3.5%.
Meanwhile, Toronto will hope to have the same sort of fortune with their selection. Often the NHL lottery is weighed by the “deserved” scale, up for interpretation. While every franchise deserves the opportunity to select game breaking talent, especially those with the worst records, it’s fascinating to consider how different things could be for the Maple Leafs, and just how much they had at stake tonight. Rather than forking over a top 10 selection to their playoff nemesis, and coming away with nothing from a lost season, the lights are as bright in Toronto as ever, and now, they’re on the clock for June 26.
Latest On Auston Matthews’ Maple Leafs Future
The Athletic’s Chris Johnston has reported, citing league sources, that Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews “still isn’t sure if he’ll be back in Toronto in the fall.”
What this means, according to Johnston, is that Toronto’s freshly-hired hockey operations leaders, GM John Chayka and senior advisor Mats Sundin, “will be auditioning” to keep Matthews “with their work around draft week in late June and the opening of free agency on July 1.”
Matthews reportedly has “some understandable concerns” about the Maple Leafs’ ability to vault back to their prior status as a team legitimately capable of contending for a Stanley Cup.
What Matthews appears to be looking for from the Maple Leafs is “real action,” meaning tangible transactions that meaningfully improve the caliber of the roster Matthews currently occupies a spot on.
Chayka and Sundin will meet with Matthews at some point in the coming weeks to discuss his future, but a firm decision on where he’s leaning is not expected at that time.
Whether the new leadership will be able to make enough changes to turn around the Maple Leafs, who finished 28th in the NHL just a year after finishing fourth in the standings, is the key question.
The upcoming class of free agents is widely considered to be thin on difference-making talent, and the team’s prospect pool (which ranked No. 29 in the NHL according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler) isn’t overflowing with valuable trade chips.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t avenues for the Maple Leafs to make significant improvements. Every summer, there are unheralded signings or trade additions that end up making a big impact in the years to come. But what it does mean is the Maple Leafs don’t have an abundance of obvious routes back to contention.
In most cases, that’s totally fine. Hockey operations leaders almost always more interested in moves that translate to wins on the ice in the winter, not wins in the headlines in the summer.
But in Toronto’s case, the scarcity of available big-name talent might genuinely matter. If their most immediate, pressing task is convincing Matthews they can quickly rebound and return to contention, working the margins of the roster and relying on savvy moves for undervalued players may not be enough to move the needle.
It’s too early to tell whether the Maple Leafs will ultimately be successful in their efforts for a quick turnaround. But Johnston’s reporting is still significant, as it indicates that the future of Toronto’s best player is far from set in stone.
Photos courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Korbinian Holzer Announces Retirement
According to an announcement from the ICEHL’s Graz99ers, former NHL defenseman Korbinian Holzer has officially hung up his skates. He spent nine years in the NHL playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, and Nashville Predators.
Holzer’s professional career in North America began nearly two decades ago, being selected with the 111th overall pick (fourth round) of the Maple Leafs in the 2006 NHL Draft. Before joining North American ice, Holzer played several seasons with the DEL’s DEG Metro Stars, finishing the 2009-10 season with six goals and 22 points.
Finally making the jump, Holzer spent most of the 2010-11 campaign with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, registering three goals and 13 points in 73 games with a +10 rating. Still, he managed to debut with the Maple Leafs, earning a -1 rating in two contests.
After spending the 2011-12 season exclusively with the Marlies, Holzer became a more consistent precense on the Maple Leafs’ blue line. Between 2012 and 2015, Holzer appeared in 56 games for Toronto, scoring two goals and nine points, averaging 17:39 of ice time.
Unfortunately, the team that drafted him wasn’t convinced of his staying power. Toronto passed Holzer through waivers ahead of the 2014-15 season, and eventually traded him to the Ducks the following season.
Orange County is where Holzer enjoyed the best seasons of his NHL career. Remaining a seventh defenseman with Anaheim, Holzer spent five years with the Ducks organization, scoring four goals and 18 points in 145 games with a -2 rating, averaging 14:48 of ice time per game. Failing to provide much offense, Holzer was a responsible player in the defensive zone, earning a 92.5% on-ice SV% at even strength while beginning 53.6% of his shifts in the defensive zone.
After a trade to the Predators toward the 2020 trade deadline, Holzer’s career in North America concluded. He has had multiple pit stops since then, playing for the KHL’s Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, the DEL’s Adler Mannheim, before finally concluding his professional career with the Graz99ers.
Over eight years, Holzer scored six goals and 27 points in 206 NHL contests, with another 12 goals and 79 points in 297 AHL appearances. We at PHR congratulate Holzer on his career and wish him the best in his next chapter.
Offseason Checklist: Toronto Maple Leafs
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at the Maple Leafs.
To say this season didn’t go to plan for Toronto would be an understatement. Coming off just their second series win in the Auston Matthews era in 2025, there were going to be changes after bowing out to the Panthers – Mitch Marner‘s long-understood departure via a sign-and-trade to the Golden Knights was the biggest of them all – but the hope was that a bevy of depth free agent signings could help replace the star playmaker’s production by committee. Instead, the Leafs floundered, finishing with their worst record in 10 years and losing Matthews to a torn MCL in March, which eventually cost general manager Brad Treliving his job. Now, after installing John Chayka as his replacement earlier today, a list of daunting tasks awaits him without the guarantee of a first-round pick, which they’ll only retain if Tuesday’s lottery balls keep them within the top five.
Settle The Coaching Question
Chayka still has nearly two months until the opening of free agency in July, so he’ll have plenty of run-up to make player personnel decisions. The more pressing matter is the future of Craig Berube, who just wrapped up his second season behind Toronto’s bench with a 20-win regression. It would be surprising to see Chayka, who was aggressive with limited resources during his time atop the Coyotes’ front office, not move to bring in a new voice behind the bench. Doing so sooner rather than later is paramount, with a pair of high-profile, late-season fired candidates still available in Bruce Cassidy and Patrick Roy.
Seeing Berube remain behind the bench would be especially shocking, given how analytics-forward Chayka is. Even amid last season’s success, the Maple Leafs were middle of the pack in 5-on-5 expected goals share (49.8%) and were even worse in the playoffs, per MoneyPuck. This season, that number tumbled to a 30th-ranked 45.6% while their actual results followed suit, finishing 16th in goals for per game (3.07) but second-worst in goals against (3.60) and worst in shots against (32.4) by a significant margin.
Berube still has two years left on his contract, which he signed in 2024 to replace Sheldon Keefe. Given Toronto’s virtually unlimited financial resources, that’s not a concern for them, but it is indicative of just how quickly the franchise’s momentum has changed.
Solidify A Long-Term Plan
The Leafs’ two remaining “franchise” forwards after Marner’s departure, Matthews and William Nylander, have both expressed uncertainty about their futures if the team’s next GM opts for a full-scale rebuild rather than a short-term reload. Presenting them – particularly Matthews, who’s much closer to unrestricted free agency in 2028 – with a long-term vision needs to be higher on Chayka’s list so he can plan his offseason accordingly.
For a team whose draft pick and prospect cupboards are so bare, opting for a long-term route that Matthews and Nylander aren’t enthused about should immediately trigger trade conversations. Whether a deal of that magnitude could be cobbled together quickly enough to transpire by the draft is a different question entirely, but it’s a possibility all sides need to prepare themselves for (or definitively rule out) depending on Chayka’s vision.
They simply can’t afford a situation like Marner’s, where his signing rights as a pending UFA were sold for pennies on the dollar. They have plenty of cap space for next season, but a thin free agent market to spend it on. Matthews and Nylander could likely be appeased by a clear-cut plan of attack that gets them back to playoff/championship contention by the end of Matthews’ deal two years from now, but if that’s not something Chayka is confident in being able to achieve, he’ll be thrust into making one, if not multiple, of the most franchise-altering trades in recent memory.
Consider Goaltending Options
Toronto’s goals-against regression had more to do with team defense than goaltending, but it’s not as if their netminding was particularly inspiring. A year after serving as arguably the league’s most efficient goaltending tandem, Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll were both decidedly below average in 2025-26. Woll was “good” for -6.6 goals saved above expected in 39 outings while Stolarz had a -6.7 mark in 26 games amid another injury-plagued season, per MoneyPuck. This was, of course, after Treliving had locked Stolarz into a seemingly now ill-advised four-year, $15MM extension that begins next season.
That $3.75MM cap hit isn’t much of an eyesore on its own. Stolarz has long been one of the league’s better backups, and it stands he’ll rebound to some degree. But Toronto’s bright spot between the pipes this season was third-stringer Dennis Hildeby, who was excellent when stepping in during Stolarz and Woll’s various absences. Despite a 5-7-4 record, he managed a .912 SV% in 14 starts and six relief appearances to save a raucous 10.5 goals above expected.
Notably, Hildeby loses his waiver exemption next season. He won’t be able to head to the AHL without risking a claim. Still just 24 years old, that’s a fate the Leafs are surely looking to avoid. Chayka’s analytical bent means Hildeby likely won’t be the name on the way out if Chayka decides that carrying three goalies next season isn’t prudent.
However, there’s a strong argument to be made that staying the course is the best path forward. Stolarz’s ever-persistent injury concerns, despite his high ceiling, make a perfectly strong argument for carrying a third netminder, particularly with all three on affordable deals that would only total up to $8.25MM against the cap.
Toronto did briefly explore moving Stolarz prior to the trade deadline, but he stayed put. He’d almost surely be the name on the move if Chayka does move in that direction, but with a 16-team no-trade list, his options will be limited.
Refresh The Blue Line
Treliving leaves behind an overpaid, sluggish defense corps in Toronto. Obvious, easy-to-trade candidates are hard to come by. With seven names already signed to one-way deals for next season, pending UFAs Matt Benning and Troy Stecher are almost sure candidates to walk.
Outside of that, they have three 2027 UFAs in Brandon Carlo, Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers. Only Carlo will fetch any significant value, and even then, it won’t be close to the potentially top-10 pick they’ll end up sending to the Bruins to acquire him at the 2025 deadline. Moving Morgan Rielly‘s $7.5MM cap hit should be of some intrigue, but with a no-movement clause, it could prove impossible – especially with Toronto no longer being in a severe cap crunch to force a move. There’s also something to be said for the fact that he’s still Toronto’s best goal-scoring D-man, despite his increasingly obvious skating and defensive deficiencies.
It’s here where Chayka’s hiring appears most targeted. He made a few shrewd blue-line acquisitions during his tenure in Arizona, often by taking on undesirable contracts that teams weren’t properly valuing or using. Jason Demers and Alex Goligoski were particularly effective pickups for short bursts. With such limited capital to trade from, though, he’ll need to pull out some “Moneyball”-style pickups to get the most out of Toronto’s defensive depth.
Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images.
Maple Leafs Hire John Chayka As GM, Mats Sundin As Senior Advisor
May 3: Toronto has confirmed both hirings on Sunday. Chayka is stepping in as general manager, while Sundin is joining as senior executive advisor. Maple Leafs president Keith Pelley’s statement was as follows:
I’m thrilled to welcome John and Mats to their roles, two great hockey minds that will strengthen our entire hockey club. From the start of this process, it’s been about building a championship-calibre team for our fans and our city and today is an important step towards that goal.
May 2: The Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to hold a press conference on Monday where they will announce Mats Sundin and John Chayka have been hired to lead the team’s front office. The news was first reported by Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun and later seconded by Sportsnet. The specifics of roles and responsibilities haven’t been defined, but it seems likely that Chayka will step into the team’s vacant general manager role.
Chayka became the youngest general manager in NHL history when he was hired by the Arizona Coyotes on May 4, 2016, at the age of 26. He was championed as an innovative, analytical thinker at the time and held the Coyotes role through four seasons, also serving as President of Hockey Operations for the latter three. Arizona only made the playoffs in Chayka’s last season, but he suddenly resigned from his roles just one day before the team kicked off the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The decision came just eight months after Chayka agreed to a multi-year extension with the Coyotes.
The NHL suspended Chayka in 2021 after it was revealed that he had entertained offers from other teams while still under contract with the Coyotes. The league also discovered that Chayka and the Coyotes had held private draft combines, something strictly forbidden by the league. Arizona was forced to give up its 2020 second-round pick and 2021 first-round pick as a result.
Chayka championed roster turnover in his time with the Coyotes. He added multiple impactful players to the roster, including Phil Kessel, Taylor Hall, Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Darcy Kuemper. He also brought in players who remain core components of the Utah Mammoth: Nick Schmaltz, Lawson Crouse, Clayton Keller, and Barrett Hayton. But quantity did not mean quality for the Coyotes, who struggled to click and never managed more than 35 wins under Chayka’s reign. He did have a knack for finding NHL talent in the draft, selecting six players who have gone on to play in at least 200 NHL games, though that is out of 32 total selections.
Many of Chayka’s gut calls seemed to be the right choices at the wrong time. He will look to correct his timing with a Toronto club in need of any kind of direction forward. The Maple Leafs managed to break out of their first-round slumps with trips to the second round in 2023 and 2025 – but they haven’t made it to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2002.
The Leafs couldn’t capitalize on the combination of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner – losing the latter to the Vegas Golden Knights last summer. Chayka’s primary task will be to build a core that can push through the playoffs before more of their core four step out of the lineup. He will have the boost of young difference-makers Matthew Knies and Easton Cowan, though the former appeared in trade rumors through the middle of the season. That trade could kick off a refresh of the Toronto lineup, as much as the decision to keep Knies around could define the top-end of Toronto’s future.
Sundin will be a strong steward as the Maple Leafs enter a new era. He joined the Leafs in a franchise-changing trade in 1994, with Wendel Clark among the four assets sent back to the Quebec Nordiques. Sundin, only two seasons removed from his first season above 100 points, instantly scored at a point-per-game pace for the Maple Leafs. He reached 94 points in the 1996-97 season, enough to cement his spot as the leader of Toronto’s lineup and earn him the captaincy. He wore the ‘C’ for the next 11 seasons from 1997 to 2008. Even in his final season in Toronto, Sundin managed 78 points in 74 games. His career spanned the Leafs’ last two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals – in 2002 and 1999. He left the Leafs for one season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2008-09, then retired as Toronto’s all-time points leader (987). He also held the goals record (420) until Matthews passed him on January 3.
Sundin’s number was retired by Toronto in 2012. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame nine months later. In retirement, he has lived in the same privacy he fought for during his playing days. He supported Team Sweden at the 2013 World Championship and the 2017 World Cup as a team consultant. The Tre Kronor won Gold at both tournaments. Sundin has otherwise not filled any formal team roles. The same robust leadership and hockey knowledge that guided his playing career will now guide Sundin’s managerial career. His guidance could be an important presence for Toronto’s top players.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Breen, Patrick Breen/The Republic.
Maple Leafs Denied Permission To Interview Julien BriseBois
Although the reported group of final candidates doesn’t strike much inspiration, it’s now safe to say the Toronto Maple Leafs attempted to go big-game hunting for their GM vacancy. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs requested to interview Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois, but were quickly denied.
Frankly, it’s not surprising at all that Toronto was denied permission to interview BriseBois. As Friedman put it, “I don’t think anyone is shocked to hear that the Lightning would say no. I do think they asked permission to speak to him and were rejected.”
BriseBois, 49, has been the front office leader for the Lightning since the 2018-19 season, after Steve Yzerman stepped down from the role. Inarguably, three of the most important players on the team were drafted by Yzerman: Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brayden Point. Still, that’s not to say that BriseBois has only been coasting off Yzerman’s success. He was the one who acquired Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel, and J.J. Moser, among others.
Regardless of which General Manager ultimately had the bigger hand in the team’s success, BriseBois was the General Manager of the team during their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021. Because of that, he’s one of the most successful General Managers in the NHL, rivaled only by Bill Zito of the Florida Panthers. Given his track record, there’s no questioning why the Maple Leafs would be interested in bringing him on board.
Now, since they were rejected by the Lightning and potentially rejected by additional teams to speak with their front office leaders, the Maple Leafs appear headed for a split role. Reports suggest that Toronto is actively pursuing John Chayka and franchise legend Mats Sundin for higher management roles. Instead of having one man to lead the pack, the Maple Leafs may opt for a combined effort.
Shane Doan Will Leave If Maple Leafs Hire John Chayka
Last week, reports emerged that the Toronto Maple Leafs had granted permission to the Vancouver Canucks to interview Shane Doan for an unknown role. However, even if a deal between Doan and the Canucks doesn’t come to fruition, he may leave Toronto anyway.
John Chayka, the former General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes, is widely considered to be one of the finalists for the Maple Leafs’ GM vacancy. On yesterday’s edition of DFO Rundown, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shared that if Toronto hires Chayka as the organization’s next General Manager, Doan has little interest in staying around.
- While the Maple Leafs may be nearing the conclusion of their GM search, the Canucks are not. Still in the interview process with several candidates, another has joined the fray today, as TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Vancouver has interviewed Brad Pascall, the Assistant General Manager of the Calgary Flames. If the Canucks were to offer him the position, it would be a major milestone in Pascall’s career, since he’s been the Flames’ Assistant General Manager since the 2014-15 season and has never worked for another NHL organization.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Dobson, Der-Arguchintsev
Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk took center stage Wednesday during his end-of-season press conference, using the time to forcefully shut down growing speculation regarding his future with the club. While the rest of the team’s end-of-season press conference was held on Monday after the Carolina Hurricanes swept the Senators, Tkachuk was delayed to celebrate the birth of his daughter, Lyla. During the discussions, Tkachuk wasted little time addressing trade rumors that he labeled a “distraction.”
“I feel like I’ve never shown, never said, none of those things have ever come out of my mouth, and quite honestly, it’s just getting frustrating,” Tkachuk said. “I have been fully committed to this team, to this city.”
General Manager Steve Staios echoed that sentiment earlier in the week, calling the rumors “nonsense.” Tkachuk, 26, is under contract for two more seasons and finished the year with 59 points in 60 games. Despite his regular-season production, he was held scoreless in the opening-round sweep, a result he admitted was a “big shot in the confidence.” He plans to meet with Staios following the U18 World Championships to discuss how to improve the roster for next season.
Additional notes around the Atlantic:
- The Montreal Canadiens received a significant boost during Wednesday’s optional skate as defenseman Noah Dobson returned to the ice. Dobson has been sidelined since April 11 after blocking a shot with his left hand, an injury that forced him to miss the start of the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While he skated individually and has yet to be cleared for full contact, his presence is a major step forward for a Habs blueline that has relied heavily on Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson in his absence.
- Former Maple Leafs prospect Semyon Der-Arguchintsev is reportedly interested in a return to the NHL after a productive stint in the KHL. His agent, Shumi Babaev, confirmed that they have already reached out to the organization to express a desire to rejoin the system. “Semyon is considering the option of returning to Toronto,” Babaev told R.org’s Daria Tuboltseva. “We contacted former general manager Brad Treliving and expressed our desire to return to the club’s system. Now we are waiting for the appointment of a new general manager and to understand his position.” Der-Arguchintsev, 25, recorded 37 points in 59 KHL games this season.
Latest On Maple Leafs GM Search
April 29th: According to Nick Alberga of Leafs Morning Take, a third candidate has made it to the final stages of the Maple Leafs GM search. Michael Futa, currently serving as a special assistant to the General Manager with the Carolina Hurricanes, has joined White and Chayka as a finalist for the role. Futa spent many years with the Los Angeles Kings organization as the team’s Director of Amateur Scouting, Vice President of Hockey Operations, and Assistant General Manager.
April 24th: In a new update from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast, the Toronto Maple Leafs are likely down to their final two candidates for their open General Manager position. Still, Friedman doesn’t expect anything to be announced soon as the Maple Leafs continue to do their due diligence on each candidate, who couldn’t be more different.
One of the candidates is Scott White, Assistant General Manager of the Dallas Stars, as reported a few days ago. White was hired by the Stars organization after the 2005 lockout, working his way up from their AHL affiliate to the AGM position in 2016. In his developmental philosophy, White typically values players of high character, often providing prospects and draft options with numerous character assessments.
That’s not to say he doesn’t value talent, but he is keenly aware of what a bad locker room can create, even with the necessary talent to win. Unsurprisingly, the Maple Leafs are interested in allowing that philosophy to dictate the future of the organization. Toronto has undeniable talent, but the team has struggled to mesh well in recent years. White would be an interesting candidate to come in and make some blunt changes to reshuffle the team’s chemistry.
Meanwhile, Friedman shared that John Chayka, former General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes, is the other finalist, and likely the favorite. Chayka has not worked in the NHL since he left the Coyotes organization in 2020, as he’s largely focused on his company, Compass Restaurant Group, along with his wife.
Additionally, it was unlikely he would find another General Manager role before that due to some controversy surrounding him toward the end of his time in Arizona. Chayka was suspended from the NHL by Commissioner Gary Bettman for pursuing opportunities with other clubs while under contract with the Coyotes. Additionally, the Coyotes were forced to forfeit a second-round pick in 2020 and a first-round pick in 2021 for hosting a private scouting combine for draft-eligible prospects under Chayka.
Still, Chayka has what the Maple Leafs want. He has a shrewd analytical mind, similar to Eric Tulsky of the Carolina Hurricanes and Sunny Mehta of the New Jersey Devils. Like White, Chayka would likely implement changes to enhance the team’s talent; however, concerns about the locker room atmosphere may persist.
Friedman pointed out that although the team has narrowed its choices down to two finalists, neither White nor Chayka has advanced to the second round of negotiations, which involves meeting with the Maple Leafs’ ownership group. The first candidate to reach this stage is likely to be named the team’s next General Manager in a few weeks.