Maple Leafs GM Chayka talks defence, Cowan, McKenna

CALGARY — As John Chayka walks into a Saddledome suite Monday morning to meet a handful of travelling reporters, the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager overlooks a good-vibes roster that has ripped off four straight wins.

It’s a group covered in the new manager’s fingerprints, even though Chayka hasn’t held this job for six months yet.

A new starting goalie, new power-play quarterback and mostly new forwards. Despite the win streak and how aggressively Chayka has attacked his reset on the fly — nine trades, 11 fresh roster players — the GM hardly sounds like a man content to sit on his hands and declare the 2026-27 Maple Leafs a finished product.

Here are the highlights of a 10-minute chat with Chayka about Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan’s progress, potentially trading for a defenceman, conversing with Auston Matthews, the latest on Toronto’s injured skaters and more.

Note: Chayka’s responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

On the urgency to add a defenceman via trade:

“It’s been discussed much. There's no doubt we need to improve our defensive play overall to reach our ultimate goals. But I don't think a transaction is necessarily always the way to improve. We've seen a lot of internal improvement already, and I think defensive play is a five-man structure unit. Our decision-making, puck management, forwards tracking back, coaches implementing their systems and creating more comfort with that — I think we're seeing a lot of progress organically with all of that. My job is always to look to improve the team if possible, and we'll continue to evaluate the market and see if there's an opportunity.”

On the salary cap and tagging issues being a potential barrier to a trade:

“Not really. Any time you're in pro sports now, it always becomes a bit of a math and finance problem, but I think we’ve got good flexibility. Every discussion we've had, I don't think that's going to be a gating item for us, and I think we're positioned well in that way.”

On the idea of calling up top young defenceman Ben Danford:

“He’s a good young prospect for us. I love he's in the American League. Obviously, he won a championship there last year, which gives him a lot of good runway. He's with (Marlies assistant) Mark Giordano, who's a great developer. As we think about it more broadly as an organization, especially the defence position, he's a prospect that could play 10, 15 years for us.

"For us, it's about the long term with him and making sure that if and when he does get called up, it's when he's ready and he's in a position to help us win at the NHL level. And right now he's doing a great job and playing big minutes and all situations and developing, evolving his game. I got a chance to go see him play not the last two games but the two games before that and was really positive with his progress.”

On Gavin McKenna’s ice time (13:33 per game) and how coach Jim Hiller handled the benching:

“Gavin’s been great. Like, things you see from him, it's not hard to forecast out and see that he could be a top player in this league one day. The idea that 18-year-olds come in, even if they're first-overall picks, and they're ready to dictate outcomes and be superstars — if you actually look at it, that's pretty rare and almost never happens. And so, for Gavin to come in and make the impact he has, it's been great. I know Jim and the coaching staff love working with him. He's gotten better pretty much every game. You know, there's been ups and downs, like any player, but a lot of good trends.

“When it comes to protecting a lead, as a coaching staff, they're trying to win hockey games the NHL level. And for all of Gavin's offensive gifts coming in the league, playing without the puck when you're used to having the puck your whole life, you'd probably guess there are players on our roster that they get paid to play better defensively. And for your coaching staff to lean on those players a little more heavily probably makes logical sense. But as we work through a development process with Gavin — and that's what it is — I have no doubt his time will come, and he'll continue to build up trust and confidence with the coaches. That's all really healthy, actually. It's actually the right thing for his development.

“And candidly, I thought Jim handled it well and continues to build a relationship with Gavin, and I think it's going to be a really good relationship over a long period of time.”

On Easton Cowan bucking the sophomore slump:

“It's tough to say he hasn't exceeded expectations. At the same time, he's a good player. He's a really good player that impacts the game a lot of different ways, and he's been great. Any time you get young players progressing like that, it gives you a shot in the arm. We saw a lot of these flashes at the American League level. To do what he did at that age was pretty special. But then to go elevate at this level, it's been nice found money for sure.”

On Cowan being untradeable:

“I don't think any player is untradeable, but he's a good player. He's everything you'd want at Toronto Maple Leaf. He loves the Leafs. He's passionate about it. Plays a 200-foot game. Does whatever it takes. You know, in the gym, doing extra on the ice. It'd be tough to ever improve on a player like that.”

On if he’s open to another big in-season trade of the Knies-for-Marchenko magnitude:

“Yeah.”

On No. 1 goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s middling start (3-3-2, .895):

“We were looking at it the other day. He's historically a slow starter. I think this is his best start — if you look at some (data) adjustments in the last four to five years. You need to win points and you need to have a good start to the season. But Sergei, we brought him in to be there when the pressure ramps up and we need a rock back there. So, he's moving well. He's doing a lot of great things. It's been great to have him in the locker room, around the guys. And his presence and his detail and his preparation and his approach to wins, approach to losses, it doesn't really change. So, there's a lot of really good things there.”

On balancing Bobrovsky’s workload with that of Anthony Stolarz:

“Beginning with the end in mind a bit, and it's a long season. Both Sergei and (Stolarz), you look over their careers, most goalies benefit from rest. And so, we're really confident in both goalies and have an affinity for Double A (Artur Akhtyamov) down with the Marlies and believe he's a good option as well if needed. And so, we feel like we have a bit of a luxury to be thoughtful and look at all different options, and then ultimately try to win games. But have a bigger goal in mind, too, of keeping guys fresh and healthy and ready to play.”

On the biggest surprise of this young Leafs season:

“A nice thing to see is the guys in the locker room and how they feel — genuine relationships and care for one another. You put together a lot of different humans, and there's a lot of dynamics at play, and you never know.

“And what I've seen of Auston's leadership, how he's developed as a player, as a person, interacting with him, what impresses me most is his intelligence. Both on the ice and off the ice, he's certainly thinking about it at a different level than most players. When you have a discussion with a player, usually it's kind of a first-order discussion. You know, you ask a question, they give you an answer.

“As Auston thinks about the game and his game and the team's game, dynamics, he's obviously thinking about things deeply. He's a bit of a hockey savant, I would say, how much he's thinking about things and how intelligent he is about the game of hockey. He's thinking at a pretty sophisticated level relative to my experience with top guys. So, that wouldn't be surprising, but a nice benefit.”

On fond memories of the ol’ Saddledome:

“I don't really love heights, so walking across the catwalk is, I'd say, not a fond memory. But maybe it'll be a fond memory walking over tonight.”

Injury roundup

• Chris Tanev (upper body) participated in his first team skate Monday, albeit in a red, non-contact sweater. The next step is practice. Chayka assures the defenceman is “progressing nicely” after an “optimistic” diagnosis. But what of the risks of aggravating a suspected neck-area injury?

“That’d be a crystal-ball kind of thing. Our doctors are confident in the diagnosis and the treatment plan, and he’s responding well,” the GM said. “No different than any other player that returns to play, you're always worried about re-injury, but we'll get to a point where we feel really good about it, and we'll test it as much as he can in practice, and then it's about going out and playing."

• John Tavares (lower body) is still listed as week to week but has resumed skating on his own back in Toronto.

• Dakota Joshua (core) has wrapped his AHL conditioning stint with the Marlies (zero points in four games) and will be recalled soon.

• Max Domi (unsuccessful back surgery) remains out indefinitely. He is not fit for team activities but is skating on his own and going through rehabilitation.

“At the point that he’s comfortable addressing it, he wants to address it himself, and we'll help him to do that,” Chayka said.

Some of Domi’s friends on the team have remained in touch but don’t wish to speak on how he’s dealing with this disappointment, out of respect for their teammate.