The Leafs are set to start the Development Camp today so we should get the roster.

McKenna arrives in Toronto after being No. 1 pick in 2026 NHL Draft | NHL.com
New Maple Leafs forward ready to ‘get comfortable in the city’
NHL logoDave McCarthy

On-ice sessions don't begin until Thursday.

Qualifying Offers are due today at 5 pm, so we may see unsigned RFAs for whom teams do not want to issue a QO change hands, like Emil Andrae did to the Leafs. The Leafs have not yet said what their plans are, but QO amounts are only half the story. The other side of the coin is who has arbitration rights.

Unqualified RFAs become UFA on July 1.

In other news, there were some signings:

This is now the price of a 3C. Which is why Carolina is trying to trade Jesperi Kotkaniemi instead of buying him out:

Kotkaniemi is a very interesting player. Not interesting, the sense of wow, I'm interested in him! But more in the sense of how is he like this? He can actually play hockey at a high level, and does add some small defensive value, but he cannot shoot the puck. He just is awful at that goal scoring thing, and he doesn't get assists either. Good luck with that trade, guys.

In other news:

Fox: Why Maple Leafs should push for Zach Werenski blockbuster
It’s not common for a Norris Trophy winner to be available for trade, but that may just be the case. Luke Fox explains why the Maple Leafs should push for a Zach Werenski blockbuster.
Sportsnet.caLuke Fox

Everyone is on this topic. And no, no they shouldn't. Not because Zach Werenski isn't a wonderful player, he is, but give your head a shake. They can't make this happen, and constantly talking about things the Leafs cannot do is one of the ways in which you just feed the gaping maw of a fandom looking for a reason to be dissatisfied.

John Chayka is riding pretty high right now. Undeservedly because of the fluke of getting Gavin McKenna, deservedly for a very smart draft (and that's handy for your reputation since it will be years before the sad realizations set in). He also did the obvious in firing Craig Berube, but he only did that because he was allowed to. Raddysh is a good move. Jim Hiller is fully aligned with the team ideology, and....?

Pretending to try to buy a hot commodity like Werenski would be fakery and pretence. Fox tries hard to think up a giant package of lousy picks, Matt Knies and everything else the team has, but all he needs is Andrew Nielsen or Jeremy Bracco to reveal it for what it is. Wishful thinking and a hand on the crank of fandom turning hard.

The trouble with these scenarios people come up with is they're generally really bad at writing the character of the other GM believably. Why would the Blue Jackets make a deal with the Leafs? Offer to take Elvis Merzlikens, throw in a goalie like Hildeby to back up Greaves for them, and then what? Give up Danford, Cowan, and ... sure that's a lot of stuff. I actually agree with Fox that Chayka should consider trading the players he actually would like to keep.

But meanwhile Kirill Marchenko is also writing his "it's not you, it's me" letter, and they can't even nail down Boone Jenner who wants to play there. They need a team that will just dump NHL-ready players on them in bulk or else Adam Fantilli (who needs a contract) might start his campaign to be the next to leave. Who drafted Chase Reid? They should be the first to call up Columbus.

The Leafs don't have anything in bulk except cap space. This is not the deal for them.

The NHL likely thought they'd put this issue to bed with their tampering memo sent out after Chicago tried to give Ilya Mikheyev (also a Dan Milstein client) permission to find a new deal.

Russo is correct, this cannot be done. But of course it often is quietly done, but whether or not the Wild have told Tarasenko they don't want him, they won't admit that now.

I am going to assume the agent coincidence is just that and that teams and player agents in general are pushing against this rule. Which will get them nowhere. No discussions until noon on Wednesday. If you want to get in early, trade for the player rights like Carolina did with John Carlson.

And that's it for now. Have this picture of the guy who did the thing:

From The Branches