The Toronto Maple Leafs massively overhauled their roster this summer but did most of that work in free agency. Sure, they traded Brandon Carlo to St. Louis and Joseph Woll to Philadelphia, but there was even more rumored to be cooking and Matthew Knies’s name was the most intriguing one out there.
Knies was tied up in rumors to the Canadiens, Sabres, Stars and Blackhawks and you could easily say that most teams in the NHL would want to have a talented young player like him to help push them ahead. Of course, the Leafs could also use Knies to do the same after adding Gavin McKenna in the draft to go along with Auston Matthews and William Nylander.
Still, given the depth additions the Leafs made, bringing in Sergei Bobrovsky and adding McKenna, are they going to be able to punch through the Atlantic Division maelstrom to get back to the playoffs?
The kind of trade package they’d get for Knies might have been more beneficial for them long-term and made them deeper in the short term as well. Then again, if two of the hottest pursuers are within your own division, that’s enough to make anyone think twice about trading.