A summer of frantic activity continues for John Chayka and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ahead of the 2026 NHL Draft, Toronto traded goaltender Samuel Ersson to the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick, the Leafs confirmed. It’s some continued tidy work by Chayka, who accrues some more draft capital, in exchange for one of the worst active goaltenders in the NHL.

We don’t want to be too harsh towards Ersson on the way out, but the facts are what they are. Ersson has never posted better than a .900 save percentage in four NHL seasons, posting a 14-11-5 record in 33 appearances last season with the Philadelphia Flyers, along with a .870 save percentage. Ersson saved -16.5 goals above expected via MoneyPuck, the fifth-worst total in the NHL. Toronto is confident in Anthony Stolarz going forward, with Artur Akhtyamov and Dennis Hildeby poised for larger roles with the Maple Leafs.

Toronto effectively sheds a goaltender that it wasn’t keen on qualifying. Chayka tried to avoid speaking directly about Ersson upon acquiring him and defenceman Emil Andrae from the Flyers on June 16, citing the team’s goaltending depth as a prompt for the trade. Ahead of July 1, the Maple Leafs are armed with approximately $18.8 million in cap space via PuckPedia. Chayka will be given every opportunity to improve the roster, with the cap set to rise exponentially over the next few years.

This deal is more puzzling for a Senators team, that was hampered by poor goaltending throughout the 2025-26 campaign. It’s not in our nature to feel sorry for the Senators, but after they got taken for a ride in the Brady Tkachuk trade, Ottawa may be trying to find two NHL goaltenders, at least on paper, to place in goal for next fall. Ersson, by no means, is a solution for any team in 2026-27.

From our vantage point, Chayka is batting 3-for-3 in trades this summer. It’ll be an exciting day for the Maple Leafs, as the team is widely expected to select Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday.