On Thursday, we saw the 2023 Traverse City prospect tournament open up, with the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects besting the Toronto Maple Leafs prospects by a score of 7-3. It wasn't the desired result for the Leafs, but when you consider the fact that the Leafs are a perennial contender with a much more shallow prospect pool, it certainly does help put it all into perspective.
In a very surprising move earlier this week, the Leafs announced that they would be sending Matthew Knies to the Traverse City tourney. Whether this was a balancing move to try to include a high-end prospect or just a decision from management to give Knies a bit of a running start before training camp, that's unknown at this point. But, the move didn't come without an element of risk, as we found out on Thursday.
During the game, Knies was hacked on the wrist and came back to the Leafs' bench for some attention. Thankfully, after being looked over, Knies opted to gut it out and remain in the game.
Knies finished the game with 1 assist and 2 shots on goal, but some are now wondering, following the injury scare, whether or not it was a wise move to send the organization's top prospect to the tourney and risking injury less than a month before the start of the 2023-24 regular season.
Obviously, Knies is a competitor. He very likely wanted to take part in the tournament, whether the risk of injury was there or not. Also, from an organizational point of view, with Knies only having 3 regular season games and 7 playoff games under his belt, the more hockey he can play against NHL-caliber competition the better for his development.
