Photo credit: James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images
Montreal offered a deal for Matthew Knies and the Maple Leafs said no thank you, and Knies’ comments about trade rumours show he’s not too worried about the chatter.
Although his name came up in trade speculation, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies is staying put, as clearly there wasn’t a big enough offer on the table for Brad Treliving to even consider.
Knies, 23, has been a bright spot in a dark season for Toronto with 51 points in 61 games (16 goals, 35 assists) and still adding that elite physical game with 122 hits in 18:45 TOI.
Kent Hughes reportedly called Toronto about Knies before the deadline
Any team would love to have him, which is why the Montreal Canadiens were reportedly in talks regarding Knies before being promptly shut down according to Nick Kypreos on Real Kyper and Bourne:
There is a sense that the deal Kent Hughes was working on was with the Leafs I can tell you Matthew Knies’ name was out there with multiple teams.
Kypreos didn’t really go into who else was looking at Knies, with Montreal being the biggest name due to their heated rivalry with the Maple Leafs that spans over a century, but no names or pieces were mentioned by Kypreos.
Very rarely do the two teams make a deal together, so swapping a superstar like Knies would be something that flips that once tense dynamic straight on its head.
Toronto obviously felt the deal wasn’t lucrative enough for them to part with Knies, but without any information regarding pieces, we’re unable to judge for ourselves.
Knies called it business and said he didn’t look into the rumours
But for Knies, the noise was something that simply comes with the territory according to the young forward, and while he was a little bit surprised to hear his name come up, he’s not taking it personally:
I was a little surprised but yeah, I didn’t really look into it too much. I feel like just kind of with this market you know everyone’s kind of almost a target. It is what it is. It’s a business.
That level of maturity is something rarely seen in a young player and Knies recognizing that he could be a target but focusing instead on games at hand shows he could be a leader in the near future.
For some, being worried or anxious about being traded would cause them to falter on the ice and not live up to their end of the bargain production-wise, but Knies put up seven points in the nine games leading up to the deadline.
He clearly wasn’t bothered by the rumours and took every game in stride regardless of what happened. This also isn’t his first rodeo, and he has been through two incredibly tense trade deadlines in his career already so he was prepared.
That’s why you look at Knies not as a valuable trade asset but as someone you can genuinely build around for the next 10 years.
With questions about Auston Matthews sticking around past his next deal, you have a future captain and star in Knies waiting to take over for him.
Looking at the potential names who could be in the lineup over the next five years, he makes a great choice to take the reins:
– Easton Cowan
– Ben Danford
– Tinus Luc Koblar
– Jacob Quillan
– Miroslav Holinka
– Dennis Hildeby
These are going to be the future names who will be a part of the Maple Leafs lineup in some way, shape, or form over the coming years and solidifying Knies as someone who can lead the way offensively and in the locker room will be crucial to their growth as well.
They’ll have someone who made it through the NCAA ranks, came up and slowly came into his own before shooting into the upper echelon of the NHL. That’s inspirational and shows that if they work hard too, maybe they can become like Knies.
His on-ice talents speak for themselves but Matthew Knies is quickly making strides as a future leader of the Maple Leafs and it seems he’d have no problems putting the team on his broad shoulders and carry them to success.
Montreal wanted him for a reason, and Toronto said no for an even bigger one.
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