The Maple Leafs should offer sheet the 21-year-old puck mover Chicago buried in the minors
The Toronto Maple Leafs can use an offer sheet to bring in a young puck-moving blueliner to replace Morgan Rielly after he was pushed out of the lineup in Chicago.
The Maple Leafs need to move on from Morgan Rielly badly, and they should probably get younger in doing so. The Chicago Blackhawks have former 7th overall pick Kevin Korchinski blocked by Sam Rinzel and Artyom Levshunov and he needs a change of scenery. With the chance to bring him in for cheap - it's the perfect buy-low risk for John Chayka.
Discussion about the Maple Leafs offseason has dominated headlines recently and a lot of it has to do with who is going to be sent off the team is the presumed scorched earth teardown of the roster. They need to bring in younger, faster, and cheaper replacements while still remaining competitive; a hard task for any GM.
Kevin Korchinski was a 7th overall pick but is being pushed out by two Blackhawks young guns
But luckily for Chayka he has a player just waiting for his chance that so happens to be part of a pretty big logjam in Chicago. The Blackhawks have former 7th overall pick Kevin Korchinski toiling away in the minors after giving him a ton of attention in his rookie season.
Korchinski, 21, is a speedy and crafty offensive defenceman who loves to get creative and isn't afraid to tackle the middle of the ice. Elite Prospects wrote of Korchinski in their 2022 Prospect Guide about how he loves to bait defenders, speed past them and find the open man:
Most prospects use the middle lane sparingly. Korchinski attacks it every touch with unwavering confidence. Others, he passes under their stick for a long-range breakout pass. If neither is an option, he encourages the forechecker to reach, then he cuts back away from them before moving play to the inside.
Either way, the result is the same: he's beat two players, meaning there's an open teammate up the ice
Either way, the result is the same: he's beat two players, meaning there's an open teammate up the ice
Toronto has lacked a true force who isn't afraid to take risks but also be able to compensate for them but also one who can actually backpedal if things go a bit hairy. With Levshunov, Rinzel, Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro, Louis Crevier and prospect Derrick Pouliot - there's no room for him in the lineup.
Korchinski has appeared in 105 career games with only 19 points but the majority of those games came in his rookie season where he had 76 otherwise it's been a lengthy stay in the AHL for now.
An offer sheet forces Chicago to match or hand Toronto the young puck-mover they've been looking for
Now here comes the fun part for Chayka and the Maple Leafs!
Well, not necessarily fun but it's a creative way to bring Korchinski aboard: Offer sheet him. Much like the St. Louis Blues did with both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, Chayka can surprise the Blackhawks from behind and ambush them with an offer.
That forces them to match the offer and if Toronto wants to offer the maximum, they are only losing a 2nd round pick and in exchange get a former top-10 pick who is only 21 but has 100 NHL games under his belt already.
The maximum Toronto can offer according to Puckpedia is $4,775,666 per season, so if the team wanted to shock the world they could offer a six-year max deal worth $28,653,996. Not only is that an absurdly huge increase over his $918,333 cap hit, but secures him in Toronto as he reaches his prime.
It also doesn't handicap him from testing free agency when his contract is up either, and Toronto is the perfect testing ground for him to earn his stripes and learn what playing under immense pressure does to a player.
Chicago does ave the ability and cap space to match, but therein lies the rub. Either Chayka gets himself a 21-year old defender or he forces the Blackhawks to commit to a guy they may not have room for. Not necessarily fair, but incredibly shrewd.
Korchinski is a former top-10 pick who had 148 points in 145 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL, and a further 53 points in 109 AHL games. He's ready to make the jump and with enough time and mentorship - he could be a star.
So John Chayka has to be proactive and a bit creative in order to fix his defensive problem but he has the perfect piece just sitting there waiting to be scooped up.
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