John Chayka breaks his silence on the Knies-Marchenko blockbuster

Maple Leafs GM John Chayka addressed the media after the stunning blockbuster trade between Toronto and Columbus which saw Matthew Knies headed out.

Monday was a seismic day in the NHL as in the nick of time before rosters were finalized, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets pulled off a wild deal. Toronto sent Matthew Knies and other pieces to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko - who later extended for six years at $75M - as well as two other players.

Chayka breaks his silence on why the Maple Leafs traded Matthew Knies

John Chayka was set to address the media on Tuesday and right on cue, the Maple Leafs GM took questions from the media, and finally broke his silence on the Knies blockbuster:

First off thank you to Matthew Knies and Steven Lorentz, they were great Leafs, good men. They did some great things for us and I wish them nothing but the best.

I think a big thing is support from ownership and it wasn't a player who just wanted to win, he wanted to be a part of a first-class organization...There are a lot of good players in the NHL and very few who can single-handedly dictate games and we felt Kirill was one of those players.

Gotta give up quality to get quality, but ultimately my job is to make the team as best as possible; not just collect talent but put together a team that works.

It was brutal honesty from the GM and it was refreshing to hear the game plan behind why he decided to pull the trigger. Very rarely do stars get swapped, especially two players with such potential, but as Chayka said - he isn't here just to collect names.

Why did John Chayka target Kirill Marchenko?

Chayka was also honest in his assessment of what Marchenko can bring to the table, and credited his ability to be a dual-threat and provide some more balance to the lineup:

Unique player, combination of size and skill, be a dual threat, right shot balanced out the handedness, different options on the power-play and offensive zone. To get the top scorer on a team in his prime and lock him up to an effective number, that was a special opportunity.

Then when pressed about his huge $12.5M AAV salary, Chayka was honest that the market helped dictate what he cost, and considering the deals we've seen signed recently it's actually fairly reasonable:

We got permission in the morning, credit to [agent] Dan Milstein, but it's fair and where the market is going and what he achieved, we mapped our cap strategy and forecast - while expensive he is someone we can build around.

It's pretty cut and dry for Chayka at this point, as he had reservations about Knies' fit with the team and felt that Marchenko provided a more well-rounded approach while giving them a top scorer in his prime. Losing Knies hurts but Chayka summed up why the team needed to give him up.

Gotta give quality to get quality.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Elliotte Friedman confirms why the Maple Leafs traded Matthew Knies