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Maple Leafs GM John Chayka highlights goaltending depth as prompt for trade with Flyers
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Arun Srinivasan
Jun 16, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 16, 2026, 14:04 EDT
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Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka met with reporters on Tuesday, after executing his first trade with the club. In a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers, Toronto acquired defenceman Emil Andrae, goaltender Samuel Ersson and a 2026 third-round pick in exchange for Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit. It’s clear that Chayka is dealing from a position of strength.
“Yeah, I think it’s good in any good situation where you have organizational depth, you want the young players to force your hand a bit, and certainly the way that they played Dennis at the NHL level, even with AA (Artur Akhtyamov) with what he’s doing with the Marlies right now as a manager, definitely causes you to take notice and make plans,” Chayka said.
“And like I said, we were looking to optimize our pipeline. We felt like we had a lot of similarities, and we also had the waiver situation. This allows us to maintain some organizational depth while also, like I said, getting a young defenseman that we really like and a draft pick. But the way those guys are playing and certainly AA right now through the playoffs, is something that we’ve taken notice of.”
Akhtyamov has been in outstanding form for the Toronto Marlies during the Calder Cup run, with many believing that his rapid improvement allowed Woll to become expendable. Toronto will now enter the 2026-27 season with Akhtyamov, Ersson and Dennis Hildeby all trying to unseat Anthony Stolarz for the incumbent starter’s role.
“I think it’s great to have organizational depth at a position, and anytime you can leverage that depth to create flexibility and accrue some assets, young assets too, that was the goal,” Chayka said.
It’s an exciting time for the Maple Leafs, who are widely expected to select Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Toronto is still looking to hire its next head coach, and Chayka provided a brief update on the search. Although he did not mention any candidates by name, Joe Pavelski is considered as the favourite at this juncture.
“We’re on the final phases,” Chayka said. “It’s been a very thorough process thus far. We’re getting down to decision time, it should be in the next several days.”
Toronto will look to become younger and mobile on the back end this summer, while Chayka spoke about the importance of having flexibility and optionality, heading into the 2026-27 campaign.
“What we like about this opportunity was that it allowed us to create some flexibility. I think flexibility, optionality are assets to any great organization, and certainly this allows us to be in a better spot as we think about the entire offseason plan.”

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