The Toronto Maple Leafs considered dealing Matthew Knies at the trade deadline, mentioned by David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period in his post-deadline recap article. Chris Johnston of The Athletic said on TSN’s March 12 episode of OverDrive that Toronto 100% discussed it, but he did pump the brakes a bit, saying it didn’t seem to get to final stages.
Either way, for GM Brad Treliving to give it any thought leaves a fascinating “what if”. It’s unclear what a return could have looked like, but Toronto would need a tremendous haul for their second leading scorer (18 goals, 39 assists, 65 games) who is just 23 years old. Even then, it could send shudders down the spines of the Toronto faithful based on who is pulling the strings.
Trading Knies seems to be exactly what the Maple Leafs should not be doing, as years of neglecting their future has left them with the mess they’re in now. Set to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the club cannot even benefit from the lost season, as barring a lottery miracle jump into the top five, their first round pick will go to Boston.
If that’s the case, Toronto will cross their fingers as the Bruins make their selection that it won’t be a repeat of 2020, when the Carolina Hurricanes netted star Seth Jarvis at 13th overall from a previously more modest trade.
Back to the present, adding insult to injury the Leafs also relinquished 21-year-old Fraser Minten, whose strong play has become a constant talking point this season. It can be argued that this trade was the final nail in the coffin from an era which will be defined by its disappointment.
Needless to say, Treliving’s guard should be up from past mistakes. In a period where they seldom kept first round selections, the Leafs were fortunate enough to hit on the uber-talented 6’3” winger in the second round back in 2021, leaving Treliving with a huge asset to inherit. It’s curious as to why shipping Knies out could even be on the table at this point. Any return would have to bring back a young defenseman of equal promise along with more assets, without weakening the team in its current form. Even if the Maple Leafs eventually embarked on a full scale tear down, which is extremely unlikely, Knies is still young enough, with the right term (six years, $7.75MM), that he’d be well suited to stick around as a foundational piece.
Pure speculation at this point, but if Montreal was in the mix as it has been rumored, perhaps 24-year-old Kaiden Guhle could have been a headliner in the return, but even then, it feels like not enough for a player of Knies’ caliber. There’s already many things over the past few years the Maple Leafs organization wishes they could have a do-over on, and it’s probably best they don’t roll the dice on another.
Treliving still faces the tall task of infusing the blue line with more talent this summer with limited assets to work with. However, there simply has to be another way, even if it’s an older player, or more of an under the radar reclamation project. Dangling Knies would fetch a defensemen they’ve been craving for about as long as can be remembered. Yet at the same time, suddenly there’d be a massive gap in their top six, leaving great pressure on the raw 20-year-old Easton Cowan with virtually nobody else in the cupboard having remotely as much upside.
It may come back to discussion this offseason, however, Pagnotta chimed in that he’s not convinced it will be explored in the coming summer. Perhaps that’s for the best, as the Leafs will try to shake things up and run it back next year. If another contention window will open for the franchise, it will need Knies’ continued growth into one of the game’s best power forwards. That’s best done in the blue and white, as opposed to a rival.
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