Tinker tinker.
When John Chayka arrived on the scene he spoke about wanting to add more puck movers to the back end. The result was Leafs Nation talking about the likes of Dougie Hamilton, Sean Durzi, Darren Raddysh, Rasmus Andersson and even the far more wild idea of chasing Thomas Harley. Adding any of those players would result in a change to the top 4 defense that the Leafs assembled last season.
Instead, John Chayka’s first move is, in essence, a trade for a 3rd round pick, a minor league goalie and a diminutive depth defender that is known for his puck transition skills. Once again, the management group has failed to gouge out any of the core group, instead opting to tinker at the edges.
The full trade looks like this…
To TOR: Samuel Ersson, Emil Andrea, 3rd round pick (2026, #85)
To PHI: Joseph Woll, Simon Benoit
How you view this likely depends on how you view Joseph Woll’s future. The 27 year old netminder had some solid stretches, games and moments for the club, but he never really grabbed hold of the starters position and ran with it. In fact, when Anthony Stolarz was healthy, he was the better goalie most nights. The issue here is that Anthony Stolarz is rarely healthy, which has me asking what the plan is moving forward, exactly. If you think that Joseph Woll could develop further and be a reliable starter in the NHL, then this trade is a clear loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, if Woll has simply plateaued as a 1B and/or backup goalie, then getting a 3rd round selection in a deep draft is actually a win for the club. They need picks and prospects, as their cupboards are completely empty and they could land a solid prospect with the 85th pick ten days from now.
Furthermore, it’s believed that the performance of Artur Akhtyamov has changed the organization’s view of their goalie situation. With Woll and Stolarz in the NHL, Akhtyamov playing great in the AHL and Dennis Hildeby, who has also shown promise at the AHL and NHL level not having waiver exempt status anymore, they had to move somebody and Woll was the one that could return the most. In fact, considering Stolarz’s injury history, it’s quite likely that no team would make an offer on him at all at this point. The final injury of the 2026 season was a nothing save on a nothing play. The only thing it accomplished was confirming to the team that Stolarz would never have the durability to be a starting goalie. Considering he is entering the first year of a 4 year, $15M contract is just the cherry on top of the trade-value-less cake, if you will. The situation is simple, they’ll ride Stolarz as much as they can and use him as a veteran leader, but the future of the teams netminding is now in the hands of the two young men that backstopped the Toronto Marlies throughout the 2025-26 AHL season.
Lastly, it’s possible that the team doesn’t send a qualifying offer to their new goaltender, Samuel Ersson. Ersson played quite poorly over the past couple of years and would be owed a QO of $1.6M this spring. He’s simply not worth that much at this point in his career, but the 26 year old may still have a future with the club. If he’d agree to a league minimum deal and play for the Toronto Marlies, he could find his way back to the NHL some day. Afterall, if the Leafs graduate Dennis Hildeby to the NHL, while taking into account that Anthony Stolarz will miss a minimum of 40 games due to injury (that statement is satire, but also based on his history), then you can assume that the tandem of Hildeby and Akhtyamov will be in the NHL together for a large portion of the season, which will then leave a hole to fill at the AHL level. That could represent a great opportunity for Ersson to further develop in the minors.
Now, onto the defense.
I always liked Simon Benoit. He was a good soldier for the club and showed loyalty to the team. Benoit signed in the later parts of the summer and ran with the opportunity he was presented with. He knows exactly who he is and he leans into the role of 3rd pair, physical defender and you simply can’t hate him for that. I wish him luck.
Emil Andrea is a 5’9″ defender that is known for his breakout passes and transition play. He has worked on his defensive positioning over the years and has improved in that area, but he still plays an offense first game, which means he cheats for offense too often. That wouldn’t be as much of a problem if he actually produced big numbers on the scoresheet, but he doesn’t. He has shown the ability to produce at the AHL level, so there’s hope there, but at 24 years old he doesn’t have a lot of runway left to develop his game. With all of this said, he has never found himself in a position to receive big powerplay minutes at the NHL level, but he may get that opportunity here. We’ll find out what they will ask of him this fall, but for the moment I am assuming he’ll be given some PP2 minutes and be on the 3rd pair at even strength. Maybe there’s upside here, but I feel as if Andrea is the same to offensive defender’s, as what Simon Benoit is to defensive defender’s. Neither will ever be among the best in the league at what they do, but as a 3rd pair option they’re fine.
A few more things hitting the wire:
Further to the Rielly news that he has given the Leafs a list of teams that he would be interested in moving to is that his list isn’t believed to be firmly set. If the Leafs receive an offer that they really like from a team that isn’t on his list, they can bring it to Rielly as an additional option.