Report on Matthew Knies Could Spell Some Very Bad News for the Maple Leafs
Sportsnets Jason Bukala has revealed something very concerning about Matthew Knies, which could put the Maple Leafs in a compromising position.
On Thursday night, we saw 22-year-old Matthew Knies become just the third player this season to register 150+ hits and 25+ goals joining Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson. He's also the first Leaf since those stats began being recorded to hit that mark.
Two weeks ago on deadline day, Knies was admittedly nervous that he may have been on the move given he doesn't have a deal for next season yet, but Leafs GM Brad Treliving made it clear to teams that he was not available.
Since the deadline, much of the discourse in the Toronto media has been about extensions for John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Sportsnet's Jason Bukala, however, believes Knies should be the priority.
Bukala doubled-down on his article from Monday, appearing on Friday's edition of 'The Fan Hockey Show', revealing what an extension would cost the Leafs while explaining that the club should learn from the Edmonton Oilers' mishandling of Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last off-season.
"I think the Knies deal could surpass the (Brady) Tkachuk deal. If I'm his agent, I don't know if I'm not looking for a five-year right now considering where the cap his going. If I'm Toronto, I'm trying to get it at eight. If it goes to eight and you eat up three extra years of UFA, there's going to be a cost associated with that. It could go to $9M I just don't see how you cannot sign Knies first and see what's left over to do the rest of your business... he's going to get offer sheeted."
Bukala noted how the Oilers signed Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner before signing Broberg and Holloway and eventually lost them both to the St. Louis Blues after they were unable to match the offersheets.
The Leafs need to avoid repeating Edmonton's mistake and sign the former second-round pick before he even has a chance to consider offersheets and then focus on Marner and Tavares. They have an opportunity, depending how far they go in the playoffs, to completely revamp the forward group, but losing Knies would certainly be considered a far greater loss than Tavares, and perhaps even Marner as well.
| POLL | ||
MARS 21 | 3728 ANSWERS Report on Matthew Knies Could Spell Some Very Bad News for the Maple Leafs Do you agree with Jason Bukala about the Leafs needing to lock up Matthew Knies before Marner or Tavares? | ||
| Yes | 2597 | 69.7 % |
| No | 491 | 13.2 % |
| Depends on the number | 571 | 15.3 % |
| I'm willing to risk it | 69 | 1.9 % |
| List of polls | ||