Leafs Star Matthew Knies Unleashes a Shocker About Girlfriend Ella Huber

Coming into this off-season, the Maple Leafs had a lot of business to tend to, not only in relation to the Mitch Marner saga, but also requiring new deals for John Tavares and Matthew Knies, among other important tasks.

Naturally, we know how everything played out with Marner, but I don't think anyone was expecting both Knies and Tavares to sign such team-friendly deals.

For Tavares, the 4-year extension he signed worth a little under $4.4M really surprised fans and pundits around the league.

With rising star Matthew Knies signing a new 6-year deal under $8M per season when he could have easily demanded $9M or more, though, it became clear that players are beginning to put the team first in Toronto.

Knies was the feature guest on Monday's episode of Spittin' Chiclets, and touched on his deal, sharing the humble opinion that the AAV was quite fair in his mind. Something else came up during the interview, though, that struck a chord for Knies.

During the interview, producer Mike Grinnell tried to set Matthew Knies up with a question about where he is most excited to travel to this season, looking for Boston as the obvious answer.

Knies didn't pick up the subtle hint, answering Anaheim and Vegas before he clued into which answer Grinnell was probing him for.

Why Boston should have been high on his list of answers wasn't because of a special date with the Bruins, but because Knies' girlfriend, Ella Huber, was recently drafted by the Boston Fleet in the PWHL.

It was when Knies opened up about the situation, though, that really made you feel for him a bit. Knies revealed that Toronto held the very next pick, and that the Toronto Sceptres were intending to draft Huber with the pick.

Huber was selected by the Fleet with the 2nd pick in the 2nd round, leaving the Sceptres to draft forward Emma Gentry out of St. Cloud University (NCAA) with the 3rd pick in round 2.

Naturally, with the pair both being professional hockey players, I'm sure that the expectation was always that they'd be playing in different cities. Still, it would have been nice to have seen this one work out for Knies and Huber, as long-distance relationships can be a challenge, even when you both understand the reality.

For Knies, the focus now shifts to a very important 2025-26 season with eyes on not only once again winning the Atlantic Division, but also pushing for that elusive Stanley Cup.