TORONTO — The pick is in … their minds.
After the Toronto Maple Leafs pored over video and charts, interviewed prospects and scouts, explored trading down and examined all elite members of the NHL’s 2026 draft class, they have a decision.
Yes, GM John Chayka says, they “considered everything” when it came to their No. 1-overall draft pick, but they plan to drape a Maple Leafs sweater on some lucky prospect shortly after 7 p.m. ET Friday.
“I’d say it’s unanimous,” Chayka said Thursday at the club’s practice facility. “At the end of the day, it was straightforward.”
No spoilers. Chayka wants fans to tune into the draft, broadcast live from Buffalo, but hunches say it will be Gavin McKenna.
New head coach Jim Hiller will lean on his experience as a Leafs assistant in 2016, when Auston Matthews went from the stage to the spotlight.
“I’ll lean on him a little bit, too. We’ve talked about that already. It's going to be a special player,” Hiller said. “It’s a unique position to be a No. 1 pick overall, and in the Toronto market. So, we got a good guy with great experience with that.”
Why stop at one?
Let’s get greedy, shall we?
Already this week, the Chicago Blackhawks traded the No. 4 pick to the Buffalo Sabres (for Bowen Byram) and the No. 9 pick has been flipped from Florida to Ottawa (for Brady Tkachuk) to San Jose (for William Eklund).
Chayka confirms he was in on trade discussions for those picks, presumably to find a young D-man to develop alongside McKenna.
“It’s rare those picks are moved. We’ve had discussions on every pick in the top 10, outside of 1,” Chayka said. “If you could get two top-10 picks, that’s a compelling option. But at the same time, there’s a cost to that, and it's not something that we'd be willing to do beyond a reasonable doubt. But we have explored that and understand that, if you can add two players from the same age group in that part of the draft, as a premise, that’s interesting.”
Insert eyeball emoji here.
Rielly ‘part of the solution’?
Toronto’s sign-and-trade for power-play quarterback Darren Raddysh further calls into question Morgan Rielly’s future with the club.
A diplomatic Chayka says he’s had “lots of great conversations with Morgan and his representation,” agent J.P. Barry, who submitted a four-team list of Western Conference teams to which Rielly will consider waiving his no-trade clause for. Those talks continue.
“We’re just trying to find the right fit for everyone,” said Chayka.
Sounds like he wants to do right by the player. But does he anticipate a move getting completed?
“I don’t think so, as we stand here,” he said. “But those are conversations we continue to have.”
Hiller, meanwhile, is operating on the idea Rielly will be at camp. He’s already touched base and plans to meet face-to-face with the longest-tenured Leaf next week.
“I'm really excited to coach him again. I thought Morgan, during my time here, was a really good player, was a great person. And so, for me, I look at him as being part of the solution. He knows that. I got a great respect for him,” Hiller enthused.
“We’ll see where that goes. But from my perspective, I know him, I like him, I hope he's part of the team in the future. And if it goes a different direction, well, so be it. That's nothing I can control.”
Knies on the block?
Chayka is maintaining the company line on winger Matthew Knies, his most valuable trade chip, especially if he’s trying to wiggle into the top 10 again.
The Leafs are listening but have thus far been unconvinced by the offers.
“Matthew’s an elite power forward in the prime of his career at a number that we think allows us to build a great team around him, so that all sounds pretty good to me,” Chayka said.
“Ultimately, though, my job is to try to make the team better. But all the things I just said make that incredibly difficult to do so (by trading him away).
“Like every other player, we'll have discussions and we'll evaluate things. But there's nothing as I stand here today that I think makes us a better team.”
Disciple of Babcock
Jim Hiller’s initial four-season run on the Maple Leafs bench took place under Mike Babcock, from 2015 to 2019. And he sees the logic in one of his mentors getting announced as Edmonton Oilers coach this week.
“I mean, he’s a heck of a coach with a great track record. And it's not surprising that there would be somebody that would reach out and get him on the bench,” said Hiller, who planned to reach out with congratulations.
“I would say this about Babs: He hired me out of junior, brought me to the Detroit Red Wings. … He gave me my opportunity. I learned a ton from him and wish him well with his next stop.”
Hiller is still working through the process of securing his assistant coaches but admitted he had an eye on pal D.J. Smith before Babcock scooped him.
“D.J. and I spent a lot of time together, as you know,” Hiller said, smiling. “We talked about it a little bit, but there's always different things that come into play. But him and I will remain good buddies.”
Matthews, Stolarz health updates
The Maple Leafs sent a member of their medical staff down to New Jersey to check in with Anthony Stolarz, who suffered a season-ending groin injury. Chayka reported that the big man is fully recovered and could play a hockey game today.
Right now — despite the Sergei Bobrovsky and Jordan Binnington rumours — Stolarz is the Maple Leafs’ starting goalie for opening night.
As for Matthews’ recovery from knee surgery, all updates have been positive.
“There’s also some upside when you go through a rehab process. You get a little more finely attuned with your body, and maybe there’s an opportunity for him to come out of it even stronger. That would be my hope,” Chayka said.
“Auston is an engaged captain. He’s making sure he’s in touch with us and asking questions and staying involved, as we would expect. And I think he's having a good off-season, ready to come to camp.”
Hiller said he and Matthews have maintained a relationship since those Babcock years. Anytime Hiller visited Scottsdale, Arizona, he and Matthews would grab lunch.
“We’ve kind of stayed in touch over the years, even though I wasn’t with the team,” Hiller said. “We had a great conversation the other day, and I can tell you he's extremely excited.”
Which RFAs will stay?
The Maple Leafs have a healthy contingent of restricted free agents armed with arbitration rights. Qualifying offers are due Monday.
Up front, the futures of Nick Robertson, Matias Maccelli, Jacob Quillan and Ryan Tverberg are a mystery.
On the back end, it would be safe to assume the newly acquired Emil Andrae gets signed. But what of Marlies champions Henry Thrun and William Villeneuve, who enjoyed callups in 2025-26?
And then there is recently acquired goalie Samuel Ersson, included in the Joseph Woll trade with Philadelphia.
Chayka said whom they qualify is dependent on the other moves Toronto makes this weekend.
Prepare for more trades, folks.
