While pending UFAs like Mitch Marner and John Tavares are stealing all of the headlines for the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, there’s one more major contract negotiation happening in the city.
Fan favourite Matthew Knies is set to become an RFA this summer, with the Leafs currently working on getting his extension done before he’s eligible to receive offer sheets on July 1st.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli published his top offer sheet candidates Tuesday from across the league. To no one’s surprise, Knies came in at number one. While it would be a heck of a swing for a GM to take, his upsides can’t be denied as he continues to show incredible growth and tenacity each year.
Here’s what Seravalli had to say about the 22-year-old winger:
Knies was seemingly just scratching the surface in his second year, nearly touching 30 goals (with only five on the power play), while throwing 182 hits. Wyatt Johnston seemed to set the table for what a Knies extension looks like at five years x $8.4 million, with Johnston having one additional 30-goal season under his belt in his third year and more playoff production. So figure that the $7.25 million or so projection from AFP Analytics is accurate in AAV, but probably a shade too long (buying too many UFA years) to be completely accurate. A team would have to present a deal that really dissuades Toronto from matching, and one way to do that would be to add another $11 million player to their books for the foreseeable future.
Given the size of contract he’s bound to receive, an offer sheet for Knies would likely include forking over two first-round picks, a second, and a third. With that in mind, eligible teams include Anaheim, Boston, Calgary, Chicago, Detroit, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Montréal, Nashville, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Utah, and Vegas.
Offer sheets are generally rare, but with the salary cap going up, teams have more wiggle room to make big moves and be cavalier with their chequebooks.
“I want to be here. I want to play here. That’s all that matters to me,” Knies said repeatedly on May 20 during the team’s end-of-year media availability.
Of course, it’s up to Knies and the Leafs to prevent that from happening. All of this becomes a moot point if Knies meant it when he said that he wants to stay in Toronto, and Treliving negotiates in good faith to lock down the franchise cornerstone for years to come.
