James Nichols
We knew that if the New Jersey Devils were going to do anything at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, it would have been an all or nothing type of deal. It wound up being the latter, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t try.
According to a report, the Devils showed “serious interest” in Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies.
In his latest written 32 Thoughts the blog, Elliotte Friedman named the Devils as one of several teams who sought to acquire Knies, a name many didn’t expect to hear as being available.
Friedman writes: “Teams that showed serious interest in Matthew Knies included Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, New Jersey and Utah. Everyone has denied that the Canadiens went far down the road, but … we’ll see. There were some teams who didn’t believe the Maple Leafs were serious about it, but now recognize the possibility.”
Earlier in the season, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald was adament he wanted to add to the Devils’ forward group.
“I’d like to add up front,” Fitzgerald explained. “I want to continue to give more depth. I think the entire league is probably looking for the same thing. You can figure it out. But you know, that hasn’t changed since two summers ago. We tried to add last deadline. When you’re trying to add you just, you identify those areas and put your nose to the grindstone and work.”
It’s no secret the Devils have been looking for a forward to round out the Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt line.
For a while, it was Ondrej Palat–who has since been traded to the New York Islanders. Now, it’s Connor Brown to the request of Hughes.
However, the Devils’ ambition to seek Knies seriously say’s that they’re big game hunting.
New Jersey reportedly dangled defenseman Simon Nemec at the 2026 NHL Trade deadline for a serious upgrade in the Devils’ top-six only.
One can safely assume that Knies is the kind of player the Devils would be willing to part ways with Nemec for.
Knies is a 6-foot-3, 232 lbs left-wing who thus far has scored 18 goals and 57 points in 66 games this season. He is two points shy of reaching a career high, but is in a down year regarding his goal scoring total. In 2024-25, Knies finished the season with 29 goals in 78 games.
With the Devils and Maple Leafs both likely to miss the playoffs in 2026, this summer could be huge in terms of roster shake-ups.
Perhaps the groundwork has been laid here for a trade to come at a later date between the Devils and Maple Leafs, one that could include Knies.
