Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving should absolutely be looking to upgrade his roster before Friday’s trade deadline. While chatter is heating up for Treliving this time of year, the Leafs’ GM should be keeping Matthew Knies’ name out of all talks.
During a recent Maple Leafs’ broadcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos both admitted they would move Knies to the Carolina Hurricanes in a package for Mikko Rantanen, only if Rantanen joined the Leafs with a long-term contract extension. There’s no world where the Leafs should be giving up on the 22-year-old power forward, especially for a first-line substitute, who is going to cost roughly $14 million per season.
Knies is a beast, he’s one of the best young power forwards in the game, and he’s hardly scratching the surface of his untapped potential. The pending restricted free agent wants to be a Maple Leaf long-term, and his chemistry and connection with Auston Matthews, on and off the ice continues to grow throughout his second full season as a Maple Leafs.
Considering Treliving has several different avenues for Knies’ pending contract extension, with consideration to the Leafs current and projected salary cap situation moving forward, keeping Knies in the mix at a much lower cap hit than Rantanen (or a comparable player) also gives Treliving the ability to re-sign both Mitch Marner and John Tavares. If Knies gets moved in a blockbuster, it could easily result in having no money left to re-sign Marner this summer, which would be a horrible business decision, and two moves that would infuriate the Maple Leafs’ captain. Keeping Matthews happy should also be top of mind for Treliving.
After posting 15 goals and 35 points in 80 games during his rookie season, Knies has taken tremendous strides in all elements of his game, entering Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with 22 goals in 55 games. Scoring at a 30-goal pace as a 6-foot-3, 22-year-old power forward, who is a home-grown talent, plays both sides of special teams, while being among the Leafs’ leader in hits, and has the toolbox to be one of the league’s best 200-foot players, it’s baffling to think some would be open to dealing him to ‘upgrade’ the roster.
Maple Leafs have other avenues to upgrade
Treliving should hang up the phone anytime another GM wants Knies involved in the trade package, while the Maple Leafs can still land a ‘big-fish’ by including one of Fraser Minten or Easton Cowan in trade talks, along with Max Domi and his $3.75 million AAV to help balance the financial aspects of the deal.
Cowan and Minten are still ‘lottery tickets’ at this point, who haven’t proven a thing in the NHL. Their potential alone at this point is appealing to onlooking GM’s, giving Treliving some options. Domi’s contract is looking very difficult to move at the moment, considering he’s been the Leafs’ biggest disappointment this season, but in order to create some cap space, he needs to be included.
Knies, on the other hand, has proven himself already in under two seasons. His game is evolving under Craig Berube and we’re only 55 games into the relationship. Frankly, the sky is the limit with Berube calling the shots and spearheading Knies’ development.
At the end of the day, the Maple Leafs know what they have in Knies, and they have one of, if not the best young power forward in the game. Treliving should 100% be going all-in ahead of this year’s trade deadline, this Maple Leafs team deserves it, and has a legit shot at winning the Stanley Cup. Matthew Knies deserves to be a big part of it, and the future of the organization.
