Dave Litman
Could this Toronto Maple Leafs trade deadline selling effort reach earth-shaking levels? Forget Auston Matthews or William Nylander going anywhere. But insider Elliotte Friedman writes late Thursday—less than 24 hours before the deadline—that the Leafs are actually listening to what other teams have to offer on core piece Matthew Knies.
But only on one condition:
I heard some Matthew Knies (talk), and that, to me, is the Maple Leafs seeing if there’s a massive offer they can’t turn down. That is the only way I see it happening.
Just exactly how massive that would have to be, would be intriguing to find out. Knies signed a six-year, $46.50M extension ($7.75 million AAV) with the Maple Leafs last summer, and he’s only in Year 1 of that deal. He’s considered a large part of their future. The 22-year-old does not have any trade protection on his contract, however, until the final season in 2030-31, when it reverts to a 10-team no-trade list.
Knies has shown a wide variety of enticing skills in his three NHL seasons and has continually improved his offensive output. Although he won’t build on his 29 goals from last season, sitting on 16 at this point, his 34 assists are already a career-high, and with 50 points in 58 games, he’s on pace for 69 points, which would top his 58 from last season.
The big-bodied power forward (6’3″, 232 pounds) has also handed out 120 hits. He uses a unicorn-like mix of strength and skill to play a strong 200-foot game.
It would be a significant about-face if the Leafs were even to entertain the thought of trading Knies at this point. But any GM worth his salt has to at least pick up the phone and hear what the other guy has to say.
As for the captain? Friedman had one of the lines of the day, invoking John Belushi in Animal House to describe Matthews’ chances of getting dealt on Friday:
The chances of Auston Matthews getting traded now are equal to John Blutarsky’s grade-point average.
