Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka and head coach Jim Hiller met with the media at the Ford Performance Centre on Thursday.
The Leafs have decided who they will select first overall, but John Chayka isn’t tipping his hand before the first round starts on Friday night.
“We do have our pick and a lot of conviction around it,” Toronto’s general manager said. “The ability for those top picks to be able to shape franchises is real. We certainly hope that is one of them for us.”
Chayka isn’t ready to reveal Toronto’s choice, but once again praised Penn State winger Gavin McKenna.
“I got the chance to spend time with Gavin in Whitehorse, and he is a unique player and person,” Chayka said. “It is an amazing story. He never had a skills coach until he was 13. He didn’t have a skating coach until he was 13. He was not in the gym until he was 15. It is that Canadian story of being out in the rink, love for the game, and passion for the game. His unique ability to break down the game and create offensive chances is special.”
McKenna edged Frolunda winger Ivar Stenberg on TSN’s final consensus list of top prospects. TSN’s top 10 also features three centres (Brantford’s Caleb Malhotra, Djurgardens’ Viggo Bjorck and Boston University’s Tynan Lawrence) and five defencemen (Sault Ste. Marie’s Chase Reid, Prince George’s Carson Carels, Jukurit’s Alberts Smits, University of North Dakota’s Keaton Verhoeff and Prince Albert’s Daxon Rudolph).
Who will end up making the top picks this year remains up in the air after a flurry of activity this week. The Chicago Blackhawks traded the fourth-overall pick to the Buffalo Sabres while the Ottawa Senators flipped the ninth-overall pick to the San Jose Sharks in another deal. And Chayka revealed he’s interested in adding another pick at the top of this year’s draft.
“It’s rare those picks are moved,” Chayka said. “We’ve had discussions on every pick in the top 10, outside of one. If you could get two top-10 picks, that’s a compelling option. But at the same time, there’s a cost to that, and it’s not something that we’d be willing to do beyond a reasonable doubt. But we have explored that and understand that, if you can add two players from the same age group in that part of the draft, as a premise, that’s interesting.”
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Is Chayka ridiculously busy right now?
“It is normal, which is ridiculously busy at this time of year,” he said with a smile. “There is liquidity in the market right now. The opportunity to make our team better over the next 10 days is vital. We really have to be prepared. We have all the scenarios mapped out, and then it is about [senior executive advisor] Mats [Sundin] and me making the big decisions and making the right ones.”
The Leafs have already bolstered their blue line by adding a pair of defencemen in Darren Raddysh (via a sign and trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and Emil Andrae (through a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers).
“We are certainly better than we were at the last press conference, but I would still say there are significant holes we’re trying to address,” Chayka said. “Now is the time to do that. We still have a long way to go, but we are in a better place.”
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The future of defenceman Morgan Rielly, who has a no-move clause and four years remaining on his contract, is up in the air.
“Morgan is the longest tenured Leaf,” Chayka noted. “I have tons of respect for everything he has done, not only on the ice — he is a prolific player — but off the ice as well ... It is a great relationship. We’ve had great discussions. He loves being a Toronto Maple Leaf. We certainly think he is a great player.”
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger was the first to report that Rielly’s agent, J.P Barry, has submitted a list of four Western-based teams Rielly is willing to go to.
Is Chayka expecting to trade Rielly?
“I don’t think so,” he said. “As we stand here, no. But, again, those are the discussions we’ll continue to have.”
Head coach Jim Hiller made it clear he’s eager to work with Rielly again.
“I’m really excited for the chance to get to coach him again,” said Hiller, who served as an assistant coach with the Leafs from 2015-19 on the staff of Mike Babcock. “I thought Morgan, during my time here, was a really good player, was a great person. And so, for me, I look at him as being part of the solution. He knows that. I’ve got great respect for him.”
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Chayka has been asked about the possibility of trading 23-year-old winger Matthew Knies in almost every media availability since being hired as Leafs general manager and Thursday was no exception.
“It’s the same thing I’ve said, which is Matthew’s an elite power forward in the prime of his career at a number that we think allows us to build a great team around him,” Chayka reiterated. “So that all sounds pretty good to me.”
Knies is under contract for five more years with a $7.75 million cap hit.
“My job is to try to make the team better, but all the things I just said make that incredibly difficult to do so [by trading Knies],” Chayka said. “So, you know, again, like every other player, we’ll have discussions and we’ll evaluate things, but there’s nothing, as I stand here today, that I think makes us a better team.”
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Hiller has spent the last few days reaching out to Leafs players, including captain Auston Matthews.
“Auston and I, in particular, had a great conversation,” said Hiller. “Even when I left, there were times when I was in Arizona that Auston and I would get together and have lunch — just to BS and keep in touch. It hasn’t been seven years since we communicated. I’ve always kind of seen him after games and have tried to keep those relationships with some of those guys I knew.”
Matthews posted career lows in goals in each of the last two seasons under former coach Craig Berube. So, what is Hiller’s plan to get the star centre back into Rocket Richard Trophy form?
“There are a lot of things there,” Hiller said. “One thing — Auston was always a really dangerous player on the power play. I don’t think they’ve been as dangerous recently. I think that is one area.”
Matthews only scored five power-play goals last season, which was his lowest total since his sophomore season. Hiller oversaw Toronto’s power play during his previous tenure in Toronto.
“Of course, there is 5-on-5, and him being completely healthy, and those types of things,” Hiller continued. “But I hope and envision we can get our power play going a little bit more. For the top guys, when they get some good momentum on the power play, it generally spreads out to the 5-on-5 game. That will be a real focus.”
The Leafs power play finished 15th overall last season.
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Matthews’ season ended prematurely after a knee-on-knee hit by Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas on March 12. The 28-year-old required surgery to repair a Grade 3 MCL tear.
“All the updates have been really positive in terms of physically,” Chayka said. “Any time you go through something like that it’s unfortunate, but there’s also some upside when you go through a rehab process and you get a little more finely tuned with your body and maybe there’s an opportunity for him to come out of it even stronger. That would be my hope.”
Matthews has two years remaining on his contract and was non-committal about his future on locker cleanout day.
“Auston’s an engaged captain,” Chayka assured. “He’s making sure he’s in touch with us and asking questions and staying involved as we would expect. And I think he’s having a good off-season, ready to come to camp.”
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Anthony Stolarz is now fully recovered from his season-ending injury, Chayka confirmed. The 32-year-old goalie suffered a groin strain on April 8.
“Health is good,” Chayka said. “Yeah, we had one of our medical staff down with him recently, and he’s fully recovered and actually in even better shape than he was at the end of the season and feeling good.”
After Joseph Woll was sent to the Flyers in the Andrae trade earlier this month, Stolarz is now the clear No. 1 on the team’s goalie depth chart.
Stolarz has never played more than 34 games in a season and the goalies just below him on the depth chart – 24-year-olds Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov – have combined to play in 29 NHL games.
“We are comfortable with it,” Chayka said of the team’s goaltending situation. “Anthony has been a very successful goalie over the last couple of years at stopping pucks. That is a good start. The way ‘AA’ finished the season gives you a lot of hope for what he can do in the future. Dennis, for a young goalie, has stopped the puck at a really high level at the NHL level. We feel really good about the combination of that.”
Akhtyamov backstopped the Toronto Marlies to a Calder Cup championship and was named the MVP of the American Hockey League playoffs. Hildeby posted an impressive .914 save percentage in 20 games with the Leafs last season.
Chayka did not mention restricted free agent Samuel Ersson, who was acquired in the Woll trade.
