Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets Preview: Knies and Marchenko Face Old Teams

Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets: the essentials

The Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets game on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at Nationwide Arena (7 p.m. ET) is the first meeting since the Sept. 28 trade that sent Matthew Knies to Columbus and brought Kirill Marchenko to Toronto. Both players face their former teams for the first time, three weeks into a season in which the deal has been argued about almost nightly in both cities.

Toronto arrives 4-4-2 after a 3-1 home win over San Jose on Monday that snapped a three-game losing streak. Columbus is 3-4-0 and has lost three of its last four, most recently 2-1 in Minnesota on Oct. 18. It is the second night of a back-to-back for the Leafs, and the Blue Jackets have had a day off.

Anthony Stolarz starts in goal for Toronto, confirmed by Elliotte Friedman, after Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves against the Sharks. Columbus had not named its starter as of Tuesday morning.

The trade, three weeks later

This was not a one-for-one swap. The seven-player deal was built around the two wingers, and the full shape of it matters because both teams are still sorting out the pieces.

Toronto signed Marchenko to a six-year extension at $12.5 million per season that starts in 2027-28; this season he carries a $3.85 million cap hit, per our Maple Leafs contracts page. Merzlikins is on long-term injured reserve and Wood has spent most of his time with the Marlies, with $1.275 million of his $2.5 million cap hit counting while he is in the AHL. In practical terms, the trade has been Marchenko for Knies so far.

We argued after the first three weeks that Toronto is winning the trade, and nothing since has changed that view. Marchenko has an assist on Matthews' tying goal against San Jose since that piece ran. Knies has gone quiet.

Matthew Knies in Columbus

Knies could not have started better. He scored twice and added an assist in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 opening-night win over Buffalo on Oct. 1, the first Columbus player to score twice in his team debut, and his three points tied the franchise mark for a debut. We covered that night in our look at his Blue Jackets debut.

The production has slowed since. Knies has two goals and two assists in seven games, which means one point in the six games after his debut. He was held off the scoresheet in Minnesota on Sunday. He opened the season on Columbus' top line with Adam Fantilli at centre, which makes the dry spell more noticeable rather than less.

Knies has been open about wanting the change. He said after the trade that the constant rumours about his future in Toronto were "getting old," per TSN, and he has since spoken warmly about the city, the fans and the dressing room in Columbus. Expect a motivated player on Tuesday. That is not a reason to fear him, but it is a reason for Toronto's defence to know where he is on the forecheck, the area of his game that made him valuable here.

Kirill Marchenko in Toronto

Marchenko's start has been the opposite: slow first, then loud. He scored once in his first seven games with Toronto, then had a hat trick in the 5-4 overtime loss to Buffalo on Oct. 15, his fifth career hat trick and his first as a Leaf, which came in his 300th NHL game. That game also extended a six-game point streak in which he had four goals and four assists.

He arrives in Columbus with four goals in 10 games for Toronto and a regular role on the power play. His history with the Blue Jackets is substantial: 102 goals and 208 points in 292 games. The exit was not warm. Zach Werenski said after the trade that "you can kind of tell that (Marchenko) didn't really want to be here," per NHL.com. That comment will follow Marchenko onto the ice in Columbus, and the crowd will not need reminding.

The danger for Toronto is Marchenko trying to win the reunion on his own. His best games this month have come when he shoots early and attacks off the rush, not when he hangs on to the puck looking for a highlight.

Goalies and the injury report

Stolarz is 2-1-0 with a .875 save percentage and a 3.31 goals-against average in three starts, per CBS Sports. His last start was a rough one, the 5-4 loss in Utah on Oct. 13, and he needs a clean night. He has also been the subject of trade chatter after the Rangers lost Igor Shesterkin; our view on why Toronto should say no stands.

Columbus started Cam Talbot in Minnesota on Sunday, and he made 32 saves in the 2-1 loss. That makes Jet Greaves the likely starter on Tuesday, though the team had not confirmed it.

Toronto's injury list is unchanged. John Tavares is week-to-week with a lower-body injury, Chris Tanev is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and Max Domi and Dakota Joshua are on long-term injured reserve. Artur Akhtyamov backs up Stolarz after his Oct. 19 recall from the Marlies, and Vinni Lettieri was recalled the same day for forward depth.

What Columbus does well

The Blue Jackets' threat starts with Fantilli and Werenski. Fantilli scored Columbus' only goal in Minnesota, set up by Werenski and Sean Monahan, and he has historically been a problem for Toronto: six goals and two assists in nine career games against the Leafs, per 640 Toronto. Werenski runs the power play and drives play from the back end at a level few defencemen in the league can match.

Columbus' problem has been finishing. Scoring one goal in Minnesota, despite 32 Talbot saves at the other end keeping the game close, sums up the last week. That should suit a Leafs team whose penalty kill went 4-for-4 against San Jose and has been one of its more reliable units this month.

Keys to the game

• Win the first period on tired legs. Back-to-back road games are where rush chances against pile up, and rush defence has been Toronto's biggest five-on-five weakness this month.
• Keep the special-teams edge. The power play scored twice against San Jose, including McKenna's first career power-play goal; Columbus has the personnel to punish a lazy penalty.
• Get five-on-five scoring from someone other than Matthews. Matthews has seven goals and 16 points in 10 games. The rest of the forwards need to share the load.
• Protect Stolarz early. A goaltender coming off a rough start benefits from a quiet first 10 minutes. Toronto has rarely given its goalies one.

What's next

After Columbus, the Leafs come home to face the New York Rangers on Thursday, Oct. 22, then travel to Edmonton for a Saturday, Oct. 24 game against the Oilers. A win on Tuesday would give Toronto a two-game winning streak and better footing for the harder half of the week.

For the trade debate, one game proves nothing either way. Knies and Marchenko will be compared for years, and the real verdict depends on Marchenko's extension and on whether Knies becomes the top-line player Columbus needs. But a Marchenko goal in Columbus, or a Knies goal against the team that moved him, would be the kind of moment both fan bases remember. Check the standings and our player pages after the final horn.