Zach Werenski lands in Toronto in a new trade proposal that strips the Maple Leafs of Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly, according to the scenario constructed using the PuckPedia PuckGM roster-building tool.
The price runs deeper than two roster players, because the trade idea would also ship a 2027 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick to Columbus for a defenseman who is two years from unrestricted free agency.
The finished Toronto sheet reads $107,749,716 in projected cap hit, $0 in space, $284 in remaining long-term injured reserve room and a full 23-man roster, according to the roster page at PuckGM. The upper limit for 2026-27 is $104 million, according to payroll ranges announced by the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association.
The deal does not solve Toronto’s cap problem but does shrink it.
Zach Werenski’s Fit With the Toronto Maple Leafs
Werenski turned 29 in July. The Grosse Pointe, Michigan, native went eighth overall to Columbus in 2015 after two seasons at Michigan, and he has never worn another sweater — 642 games, 135 goals, 330 assists and 465 points, according to stats compiled by PuckPedia.
Werenski posted 22 goals and 59 assists in 75 games in 2025-26, ranked second leaguewide in average ice time at 26:37 and won the James Norris Memorial Trophy, according to NHL.com.
He also assisted on the overtime goal for the United States at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February, according to ESPN.
Werenski scored at 1.08 points per game in 2025-26 and carried a 55.1 on-ice goals-for percentage. Rielly managed 0.46.
Toronto would swap $15.25 million in outgoing cap hits for Werenski’s $9,583,334, a reduction of roughly $5.67 million. But Werenski’s six-year, $57.5 million contract expires after 2027-28, and his 2026-27 cash comes to $7.25 million, split between $1 million in base salary and a $6.25 million signing bonus, according to the contract breakdown at PuckPedia. A no-movement clause runs through 2026-27.
What the Columbus Blue Jackets Get for Zach Werenski
Knies is 23, listed at 6-foot-3 and 231 pounds, and was born in Phoenix to Slovak parents. Toronto drafted him 57th overall in 2021 out of the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, and he debuted in April 2023 after two seasons at Minnesota. He owns 67 goals and 93 assists in 240 games, including 23 goals and 43 assists in 79 games last season, according to his page at PuckPedia. His six-year, $46.5 million contract runs through 2030-31, when he will still be only 28.
Rielly is the other half. The Vancouver native went fifth overall in 2012 out of Moose Jaw of the WHL, has played 951 games and sits on 549 career points, according to the career log at HockeyDB. His output has slipped to 36 points and a minus-18 in 78 games last season, while $7.5 million stays on the books through 2029-30 behind a full no-movement clause, according to contract terms listed at Spotrac.
Columbus absorbs about $5.67 million more in cap hit than it sends out. What the return buys is runway with five additional seasons of Knies, a veteran who still logs roughly 21 minutes a night, two 2027 selections and no exposure to a Werenski free-agent decision in 2028.
Toronto gets the reigning Norris winner for two seasons. Columbus gets everything that comes after them.
Maple Leafs Trade Pitch Lands Zach Werenski For Matthew Knies-Led Package