Report: Zach Werenski Would Accept Trade To Maple Leafs

Saturday, June 27, 2026 ,
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With so many of the Team USA Olympic team stars asking for trades these days, it would be pretty safe to assume they all want to go to American teams. But in the case of Norris Trophy winner Zach Werenski, we're hearing from insider Pierre LeBrun that he would accept a trade to one—but ONLY one—Canadian team: The Toronto Maple Leafs. 
“The one Canadian team that the Team USA Olympic gold medal winner might consider, by the way, is the Toronto Maple Leafs," LeBrun wrote in The Athletic on Saturday afternoon.

LeBrun adds more new detail, in that the Blue Jackets are discussing internally three different options on how to handle the Werenski situation, and he handicaps each one:

  1. Trade him this offseason ("most likely to play out as long as teams step up with legitimate offers," LeBrun says)
  2. Wait until next summer ("This is probably the least desirable option of the three I’m laying out, because next summer Werenski will have more control of things with one year left. Teams may not want to step up as much in trade talks unless they know they can sign him.")
  3. Force him to stay and play out the remaining two years of his contract ("The Jackets don’t want to be known as a franchise that keeps losing star players [Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Rick Nash, etc.]. Don’t underestimate that part in how this will play out."

LeBrun then presented us with the latest list of teams that have expressed real interest in Werenski. He names the Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers as having "keen interest", while also including the Carolina Hurricanes and San Jose Sharks, along with the Leafs. Fellow insider Frank Seravalli expects the Tampa Bay Lightning to take a big run at him as well.

It's still more likely that Werenski winds up somewhere south of the 49th parallel, but LeBrun's report at least gives the Maple Leafs a chance. 
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