Eyebrows were raised across the hockey world on July 1 when Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka handed a two-year, $8.5 million contract to veteran center Colton Sissons. Handed out as part of a massive offseason effort to aggressively reshape Toronto's bottom-six forwards, the move was immediately panned by critics.
After all, Sissons was coming off a lean 11-point regular season with the Vegas Golden Knights, making the $4.25 million cap hit feel like a glaring free-agent overpay. Fast forward through the opening month of the 2026-27 season, and the narrative has completely flipped. Just 11 games into his tenure with the Maple Leafs, Sissons' shutdown presence, penalty killing, and unexpected offense have transformed this highly criticized contract into an absolute steal.
Sissons' Under-the-Radar Play Makes Chayka's Move a Masterstroke
Sissons' underrated play has been huge for the Maple Leafs. His biggest contribution has been killing penalties. He has played a key role for the NHL's best penalty-killing team all season. He has alternated between starting shorthanded situations in the defensive zone on his strong side for faceoffs and being the second pair to hit the ice.
His faceoff winning percentage of 63.2 leads the Maple Leafs and is among the league leaders. Just under one-third of his faceoffs have come while down a man, winning 56.7% of draws in those situations, helping Toronto kill off 37 of 38 penalties over the team's first 11 games.
In the Leafs' recent win over Columbus, Sissons collected an assist on William Nylander's goal, giving him points in four consecutive games. He has five points in 11 games, which projects to just under 40 points for the season. He also leads the Maple Leafs with 26 hits, six more than Nick Paul and Teddy Blueger.
Sissons's play has helped solidify Toronto's bottom-six. He is part of a bottom-six that has lessened the defensive responsibility of captain and top goal scorer Auston Matthews. That was one of Chayka's goals when he overhauled the bottom-six forwards in the offseason. Consider that mission accomplished. Matthews is off to a great start, looking like his old self with 18 points in 11 games.
That is the biggest benefit to the Maple Leafs from the grunt work of Sissons and others like Paul and Blueger. In particular, Sissons becoming an indispensable depth anchor is a definitive win for the Maple Leafs' front office.
By identifying exactly what Toronto's bottom-six lacked-defensive reliability, elite penalty-killing, and veteran stability-and paying to secure it, Chayka didn't overpay; he accurately priced an important piece of the roster. Just 11 games into the season, the early returns are clear: the Maple Leafs didn't just fill a hole in their lineup; they secured one of the quietest bargains in hockey.
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