Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies signed a six-year extension that carries an AAV of $7.75 million on Sunday.
There may have been some hurdles to get the deal done, but it was clear that Knies was eager to remain in Toronto while the team wanted to ensure it had their future pillar of the franchise locked up to avoid any potential offer sheets. With the deal finalized, they can set their sights on other matters of business, such as the potential pursuit of Brad Marchand and a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights centred around Mitch Marner.
We asked you on social media shortly after the Knies deal was first reported to have been completed about your thoughts, and we received hundreds of responses across all of our platforms. Compiled here are some of the highlights of how Leafs Nation feels about the power-forward making a long-term commitment with Toronto.
The overwhelming consensus among Leafs fans is expressing their enthusiasm about the deal getting done. Given how integral Knies has become to the team in such a short amount of time, the Leafs needed to be able to lock up their rising star, and they did just that.
The majority of Leafs Nation is also in favour of the value of the deal for both sides, given there were reports Knies could have made well over $8 million or more if a team dared to give him an offer sheet. The cap hit is one that the Leafs can work with while Knies is paid at a fair value relative to his peers (ie JJ Peterka).
Knies made it clear from the offset that he wanted to stay and did not want to entertain other options. He definitely meant it by not only working in tangent with the Leafs to get a deal done before July 1st, but also by following in John Tavares’ lead by signing to a fair contract. While the ship has likely sailed on Marner accepting a contract with the Leafs, the changing of the DNA is in earnest.
The fact that Knies and Tavares were able to agree to contacts where they left money on the table is a testament to their commitment to wanting to win in Toronto as well as GM Brad Treliving doing well in negotiating. This sets up the Leafs to have over $13 million in cap space at the time of filing to make additional changes up front and ideally set the team up better down the line.
Not everyone was in agreement that the AAV was at a fair value, but bear in mind that the salary cap is expected to skyrocket in the years ahead so there is a good chance that the Knies extension will look like a steal by the midway point should he continue his upward trajectory.
Future Leafs captain Matthew Knies? We don’t mind the sound of that!
We want to hear from you: whar are your thoughts on the Matthew Knies extension?
