The Toronto Maple Leafs acquired winger Kirill Marchenko from the Columbus Blue Jackets in a seven-player trade Monday and signed him to a six-year, $75-million contract extension, sending Matthew Knies to Columbus in a swap that reshapes both clubs’ forward groups just days before the NHL regular season opens.
According to NHL.com and The Hockey News, Toronto also received forward Miles Wood and goaltender Elvis Merzlikins. Columbus got Knies, forward Steven Lorentz, defenceman Emil Andrae and a 2027 second-round pick. The Hockey News reported that the second-round pick is conditional. Some outlets, including CTV News, described the deal as a six-player trade, but the lists published by NHL.com and The Hockey News add up to seven players changing teams.
Marchenko’s new deal carries an average annual value of $12.5 million and begins with the 2026-27 season, according to NHL.com. The Hockey News reported it runs through 2032-33. Neither outlet included comments from team officials or players in its initial report.
The Hockey News described Marchenko as a 26-year-old Russian winger and said the trade ended months of speculation about his future in Columbus. The outlet, citing earlier reports, said he was not open to signing an extension with the Blue Jackets. Marchenko was a regular subject of trade talk over the summer, including in Montreal. In late June, Sportsnet reported that Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell told reporters it was “news to him” that Marchenko’s name was being linked to the Canadiens.
Knies, 23, is heading into the second year of a six-year, $46.5-million contract that carries an average annual value of $7.75 million and runs through 2031, according to The Hockey News. NHL.com said he signed the deal July 1, 2025. Both outlets reported that he scored 23 goals last season, and NHL.com listed him with 66 points. Reported figures for Marchenko’s season differ between outlets: NHL.com credited him with 27 goals and 67 points in 76 games, while The Hockey News said he had 31 goals and 74 points in 79 games. Canadian Press was not able to reconcile the numbers in the sources reviewed, and they are not treated as settled here.
The trade also carries a goaltending wrinkle for Toronto. The Hockey News reported that Merzlikins, 32, is dealing with a shoulder injury that requires surgery and that he is out indefinitely. NHL.com listed his 2025-26 record as 14-11-3 with a 3.40 goals-against average and a .883 save percentage, while The Hockey News put his save percentage at .890. Wood and Lorentz are depth forwards, and Andrae is a defenceman who joins Columbus as part of the return.
The financial gap between the two wingers was a talking point in early coverage. One analyst quoted by CTV News said Marchenko has a higher ceiling than Knies but that a team “may have to pay an extra $4-5M” for it. Marchenko’s $12.5-million annual cap hit is $4.75 million higher than Knies’s $7.75 million, which fits that assessment.
For Toronto, the move swaps a homegrown 23-year-old on a long, cost-controlled contract for a proven scorer at a substantially higher price, and it does so with the regular season about to begin. For Columbus, the return is a younger forward with a lower cap hit, a second-round pick and additional depth pieces, while it moves on from a player who had reportedly declined to extend.
Details on roster spots, cap accommodations and when Marchenko is expected to make his Maple Leafs debut were not available in the initial reports. The Maple Leafs and Blue Jackets are expected to address the trade publicly in the coming days. This story is based on reporting from NHL.com, The Hockey News, CTV News, CP24 and Sportsnet.
