The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a blockbuster trade just over 24 hours before their season is set to begin, acquiring star winger Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets. But due to a certain deadline, the trade almost didn't happen.
As revealed in the Blue Jackets' behind-the-scenes look into the trade that they published on social media Tuesday morning, Columbus general manager Don Waddell and Toronto general manager John Chayka got the trade finalized with the league office with just 27 seconds remaining before the deadline to submit the season-opening roster.
Time was ticking, but Don sealed the deal with only seconds to spare!
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 29, 2026
Go inside the GM's office for the moments before and after yesterday’s trade in this episode of Behind the Battle, presented by @PNCBank pic.twitter.com/UwUPbMsIJh
Blue Jackets and Leafs were running against the clock to make the blockbuster deal
All 32 NHL teams had until 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday to submit their rosters for the start of the season. That marked the time that every team had to be compliant to the salary cap and to really cement who is going to be in the lineup when the puck drops on opening night.
While it wasn't a hard-and-fast deadline to get this trade done, it would have clearly caused a big hiccup in the deal. Both the Leafs and the Blue Jackets would have had to included the players involved in the trade on their rosters and would have had to do some cap gymnastics to get compliant since both teams were over the cap ceiling before the deal took place.
It would have most likely delayed this deal from happening for maybe even up to a month, since it would have been awkward for Matthew Knies to play in the season opener and then find himself on another team just hours later. That then opens the possibility for Columbus to maybe pry around the league more on the market for Marchenko. Maybe the Montreal Canadiens, who were aggressively pursuing the Russian winger all summer long, would pony up a package that Columbus would like enough to finalize a deal.
Thankfully it is an outcome that we don't have to think about for very long. Since, you know, Kirill Marchenko is a Toronto Maple Leaf and now might torment the Canadiens for the next decade on every single shift.
The Leafs open their season on Tuesday night playing those very same Montreal Canadiens at home in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. and we cannot wait.
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