John Chayka’s First Move as Maple Leafs GM Has Potential & Upside

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager John Chayka made his first move of the offseason by moving on from Joseph Woll, sending him to the Philadelphia Flyers along with Simon Benoit for defender Emil Andrae, goaltender Samuel Ersson and the 85^th pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. 

While this trade may not seem like a major needle mover, as there needs to be other improvements on the backend, it’s one that needed to get done. With a crowded crease showing and a change in philosophy to the defense, it was a good first move for Chayka. It signifies change and one that could pay off and have some benefits. 

Andrae Shows Change in Philosophy on Defense

There has been a lot of talk surrounding the Maple Leafs and the improvements they need to make defensively. They were slow, got hemmed too often in their own zone and really had a hard time to breakout and create rush opportunities. With talk of Morgan Rielly possibly on the move growing, bringing in Andrae resembles a shift in the philosophy on how the defense should be constructed; quicker and more mobile.  

Andrae is a 24-year-old, mobile, two-way defenseman. He was further down the depth chart for the Flyers as he averaged 15:20 per game last season. He had 13 points in 61 games last season, although it’s his underlying metrics and numbers that really stand out, particularly his chance creation, breakout and transitional game. The Maple Leafs struggled in that regard and bringing in someone like Andrae could help tremendously as he can look to get more of an opportunity to succeed. 

Chayka really spoke highly of his breakout proficiency but also being a “smart, competitive player.” Despite being 5-foot-9, he’s stalky at 189 pounds and can hold his own while dishing out hits as well. He’s a very elusive skater as he can get out of trouble and doesn’t back down from a battle. 

At a minimum of 500 minutes played when Andrae was on the ice at five-on-five, he was first in goals for percentage (62.07%), sixth in expected goals for percentage (51.70%), eighth in high danger chances for percentage (53.31%) and first in high danger goals for percentage (71.88%). Even against elite level competition (28.3% of his ice time), he had a GF% of 64.3%. Although he had sheltered minutes, Andrae had extremely favourable and positive results. 

While he’s still viewed as a depth defender that can move the puck and play forward, there’s a chance for him to expand on his role, earn more minutes and opportunity under a head coach that will allow him to succeed. Andrae was the key piece in this move and while it may be a gamble, it’s one worth taking as they get a defender with decent potential and adds speed on the back end.

He’s worth keeping around as he can stay as a third-pairing defender, but has the potential to be a second.

Chayka Prioritizing a Younger Crease

There are a lot of question marks in between the net for the Maple Leafs heading into the offseason. One of which was who would be on the move; Anthony Stolarz or Woll. Well, we have our answer and Woll was the odd-man out. After a decent 2024-25 season, Woll followed that up with a 15-16-7 record with a .899 save percentage and a 3.72 goals against average last season. Not the numbers you’d expect for a goaltender wanting to take a big step forward. 

After a disappointing World Championship, Dennis Hildeby taking a big step this season and Artur Akhtyamov carrying the Toronto Marlies on his back in the American Hockey League playoffs, Woll’s future started to come into question. With Hildeby losing waiver exempt status and showing that he can play at an NHL level and Akhtyamov’s impressive play, it forced Chayka’s hand to make a move given the depth they have with their goaltending prospects. 

You could’ve moved on from Stolarz, but having more of a veteran presence to be there with the transition process for the two younger goaltenders is more ideal. You’re also banking on him to stay healthy and have a bounce back performance and be better than his .893 SV% suggests. Also, Woll had more trade value than Stolarz and the return showed it.

Both have had a hard time staying healthy, but this is something that can give the Maple Leafs options. You can easily start off with a Stolarz/ Hildeby tandem. Should Stolarz get injured again, you can fall back on Hildeby to carry the load for the time being as he showed he can handle an increased work load. Akhtyamov can start the season off as the starter for the Marlies and if there’s ever a chance for a call-up, you know he’ll get it. 

Chayka is prioritizing his younger goaltending prospects and it’s the right move. Ersson could still be a back-up, but his status on the roster is up in the air compared to Andrae. Ersson went from a .883 SV% in 2024-25 to .870 last season and lost the starter role to Dan Vladar.

This was all in all a great first move by Chayka as he looks to quickly fix this roster and improve this defense given how poorly they performed last season. It’s a great start as he got multiple assets back including another draft pick, but this needs to continue.

Statistics from Natural Stat Trick and PuckIQ.