Yegor Chinakov has been a player I’ve been banging the table for the Toronto Maple Leafs to take a look at since they were unceremoniously trounced in the second round of the 2025 NHL playoffs.
With the player now going public with a trade request, and Waddell revealing he has been shopping the 24-year-old Russian since the season ended, the possibility of a trade seems more and more likely as each day passes.
Today, we’ll be delving into Yegor Chinakov as a player, and why Toronto shouldn’t just be trying to acquire him, but what it would mean in the larger scheme of things if they did.
The player
Finishing
Chinakov has been a player who consistently outperforms his expected goals (xG) at 5v5 throughout his career. It’s why, despite having a shooting percentage that’s slightly below average relative to the rest of the league, just 10.6% for his career, he still grades out as at least a league-average finisher per my model.
It matches the eye test, too. Chinakov has an absolute bomb of a one-timer that he’s not afraid to uncork; it’s a quick, accurate and hard shot that goalies can find difficulty handling, even when they have full vision of it. Despite a career high of just 16 goals, make no mistake, there’s real scoring talent there. I watched him early in the season last year during his heater (mainly because I added him to my fantasy team), and the shot is LEGIT. Most of his goals come from him just absolutely ripping that wrist shot through the goalie above the dots.
Offensive Impact
Elsewhere, Chinakov is also an effective offensive player. He’s efficient in transition, and he’s always pushing play in the right direction when he has the puck. Tons and tons of individual rush chances and shot attempts this year when he had the puck. In general, I thought he showed a ton of growth from a confidence perspective as a puck handler; he was more willing to actively demand the puck, and when you combine that with his shot and his all-around support game, you can see where he was able to rattle off 14 points in his first 21 games.
In fact, out of all lines to play at least 100 minutes together this season for Columbus, early-season Chinakov–Monahan–Marchenko had the best xGF% by a country mile at 64.9%. I strongly believe that Chinakov is a player who can thrive alongside other high-end talent and that he has the skillset to provide the secondary offence Toronto is looking for. The chance creation and possession metrics have improved by leaps and bounds every single year, while he remains one of the best play drivers in the league.
Why He’s The Perfect Fit
A player of Chinakov’s mould is so important because he’s not just a player who relies on the skillsets of other players to be impactful offensively… he can go out and create something himself. It’s an aspect Toronto has found exceedingly difficult in its supporting cast over the years.
Players like Laughton, Kampf, Kerfoot and Jarnkrok were meant to be Swiss Army knives that killed play whenever they were on the ice. All three have been legitimate minute-munchers on Toronto’s top three lines at some point in their careers. Zach Hyman, Michael Bunting, Nick Ritchie and Tyler Bertuzzi were all initially brought in to do two things: puck fetching and punting in net front goals while riding shotgun to Marner and Matthews.
It worked in the regular season, but the team’s inability to create consistently became a roadblock in the playoffs when players like Marner, Matthews and Tavares dried up. It’s why, despite all his faults as a player, Max Domi is a player that Leafs fans warmed up to come playoff time. Despite the lack of discipline and defensive play, there were these moments from Domi when nothing was happening for the team, where he could just… make it something.
That’s what players like Maccelli and, hopefully, Chinakov offer Toronto. An outlet from pressure for the top players, an avenue for the team to score and win games without their superstars playing their best.
It’s a CopyCAT League
The Panthers are the new gold standard of NHL roster building. Toronto saw a third line of Luostarinen, Lundell, and Marchand carve up their middle-six this past playoff run en route to their second Stanley Cup.
In a seven-game series, Toronto held Barkov, Reinhart, and Tkachuk to five, five, and four points, respectively, and it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because Marchand, Lundell and Luostarinen combined for seven goals, 13 assists and 20 points. By building such a formidable top-nine, Florida was able to get league minimum options on their fourth line and shelter them for under seven or eight minutes a game.
You need your stars to win you the big games, and the losses will always and rightfully so, fall on their shoulders first and foremost. However, Florida has shown that you also need other guys to create when the stars go dark. Winning Cups solely on the back of your stars will never be sustainable, even if you accomplish it once.
That’s why Treliving’s next move at forward after his moves for Maccelli and Joshua are so important. Toronto has tried for years to rotate the “versatile, defensively responsible, physical” profile in their bottom-six, and while there have been some benefits (Lorentz–Laughton–Jarnkrok forming an actually semi-usable shutdown line), it has failed to address the gap between the team’s stars and depth forwards.
With Marner’s departure, the team is now forced to find a way to build his chance creation in the aggregate and with few trade assets, players like Chinakov and Maccelli represent the other aspect of the Florida Panthers’ playbook.
Assess and find undervalued talent in bad situations, bring them in for cheap, and turn them into the players you know they can be.
Who is our Gustav Forsling or Sam Bennett?
Many will point to the no state tax benefit Florida has, but that wasn’t the reason Florida was able to trade for Sam Bennett for peanuts. Or why they were able to claim Gustav Forsling off waivers from Chicago. Or how they traded away scraps to save Brandon Montour from Buffalo.
Florida took analytical, educated bets on players they believed in, players that they felt were being held back by their circumstances and not their skillset. They traded away real assets to get these players through the door, and when they were able to add their second star in Matthew Tkachuk, it took them to the next level.
For Toronto, it’s the other way around. They have their two stars already. It’s Auston Matthews and William Nylander. What they need to do is find their version of Bennett or Forsling.
The Ball is in Tre’s Court
Maccelli is a player who fits that Florida mould, a buy-low candidate with tons of skill that fell out of favour with their old team. Dakota Joshua also kind of fits that mould as a player who was outstanding in 2023–24 before getting testicular cancer and missing his entire offseason before the year.
If Treliving decides to bring in expensive UFAs and trade big assets for middling players as his next big moves, it will show this fanbase that he is still conforming to the archaic philosophy that has guided NHL front offices for decades.
However, a Chinakov trade would mean far more than just bringing a talented, young, cost-controlled offensive winger to Toronto. It could point to a front office finally ready to enter the new age of player assessment and once again assert itself as one of the trailblazers and innovators of the modern NHL.
Your move, Brad.
Cole Sillinger?