The chatter involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and Kirill Marchenko has finally come to a head. Toronto will be bringing in the 26-year-old Russian, with a contract extension in tow, as the deal is reportedly finalized on Monday.
According to insider Elliotte Friedman, the deal involves various moving parts. Here’s how it looks:
Maple Leafs get:
- Kirill Marchenko, F
- Miles Wood, F
- Elvis Merzlikins, G
Blue Jackets get:
- Matthew Knies, F
- Steven Lorentz, F
- Emil Andrae, D
- Second-round pick (year unconfirmed)
Columbus: Knies, Lorentz, Andrae and a 2nd
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 28, 2026
Tor: Marchenko, Miles Wood, Merzlikins (some retained salary)
Evidently, the two main pieces are Marchenko and Knies. While the deal could have been a 1-for-1, the two parties decided there were some pieces they wanted to move. And so, that’s why both teams swapped various potentially complicated pieces.
There are a couple of things that remain unclear.
First of all, Merzlikins comes with a $5.4 million cap hit. Until the retention is determined, it won’t be known how much the Leafs will have to cover.
The second unknown is the year of the second-round pick. It’s likely a 2027 pick, with the Maple Leafs interestingly holding Columbus’ second-rounder. According to PuckPedia, the Leafs returned the pick to Columbus.
Overall, this deal was the blockbuster everyone has been waiting to see happen in recent months. It sort of came out of left field, considering that the Montreal Canadiens had been the team most linked to Marchenko.
But it seems John Chayka stepped in and overtook everyone trying to make the most of Marchenko’s availability.
Kirill Marchenko comes with massive Maple Leafs contract extension
The biggest reason why the Blue Jackets were adamant about trading Marchenko was his reluctance to sign an extension with the organization.
Things were dicey for the Blue Jackets as it seemed that the 26-year-old just didn’t fit the team’s culture.
Well, one of the conditions regarding a potential Marchenko trade was an extension. The Maple Leafs got that out of the way, signing the winger to a six-year deal worth $75 million. That’s a $12.5 million AAV, and something that will look interesting on the Leafs’ overall cap picture moving forward.
Ultimately, Marchenko figures to be in Toronto for seven seasons, with the final year of his current contract and the next six seasons taking him to UFA status by his age-32 season.
So far, this deal looks like a massive coup for Chayka and the Maple Leafs, even if it came at the expense of Matthew Knies, a highly talented forward in his own right.
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