Dave Litman
The news hit Leafs Nation hard back at the trade deadline: The Toronto Maple Leafs were open to trading Matthew Knies. The 23-year-old was thought to be a pillar for the future of the team. He was signed to a six-year, $46.5 million extension before the season ($7.75M AAV). Granted, that was before this train wreck of a campaign derailed the Toronto express.
By now, everyone is used to the idea that Knies, and just about anyone else, is open for bidding as the Leafs enter a new era.
According to insider Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, former general manager Brad Treliving was asking a pretty penny to pry Knies loose from the Leafs:
One NHL team source told me the Maple Leafs’ ask, under Treliving, was one of three options:
1. Two first-round picks and a high-end prospect.
2. One first-round pick and two high-end prospects.
3. Three high-end prospects.
Kypreos says that such a blockbuster discussion came just too late in the game as the deadline approached, making it difficult to work out a deal with the teams who were involved. Kyper says the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks were two of those clubs.
Now, as of this past week, Treliving was handed his walking papers. Whoever inherits the job will have a huge decision to make as to whether to consider revisiting some of those talks, or, as Kypreos put it—and as most of us thought—continue to make Knies “a big part of a re-tool.”
The Leafs’ cupboards are bare after years of trading away top draft picks and prospects. So dealing a highly sought-after commodity like Knies, as suggested by those potential returns listed above, would be a huge step to rectifying that. However, that sounds more like a “rebuild” kind of deal.
As we know, MLSE CEO Keith Pelley suggested that a “retool” is all that’s needed.
What remains to be seen is what a new, incoming hockey operations boss/GM feels is necessary.
