Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving has his work cut out for himself dealing with players like Mitch Marner but once the dust settles, he should focus on Matthew Knies.
The Maple Leafs have a busy offseason coming up with Mitch Marner reportedly being on the trade market and many pending free agents including top forwards Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi.
However once the dust settles for the Maple Leafs and the offseason hits a downturn, GM Brad Treliving should definitely focus on trying to lock young forward Matthew Knies up long-term. Coming off his rookie year, Knies played solid scoring 15 goals and 35 points in 80 games proving to be a pivotal member of the Leafs’ middle six.
If they were to lock Knies up long-term, he could blossom into one of the Leafs’ best players and prove to be an underpaid player if he fills out to his potential.
While it may feel like an overpay to give Knies a big contract this early on, it has worked out for plenty of other NHL teams in the past. One of the best examples of this is the Colorado Avalanche giving Nathan MacKinnon a seven-year contract worth $6,300,000 annually and by the end of the contract he blossomed into one of the best players in the NHL and was being paid half of what he was actually worth.
While it is unlikely that Knies will reach the level of a MacKinnon, he could certainly become underpaid if given a long-term contract this offseason and if he were to break out in his sophomore year with the Leafs, his demands may increase by millions and could be priced out of Toronto.
He got his own place downtown where he’s free now to explore the city alongside his closest buddies on the Toronto Maple Leafs — Joseph Woll, Conor Timmins and Bobby McMann. But not Simon Benoit, Knies says with a grin, as Benoit breezes past in the dressing room.
“He’s never hanging out,” Knies says of Benoit sarcastically.
“Never mind the invitation for dinner tonight,” Benoit says. “It’s cancelled.”
Knies’ family was over at his new place for Christmas and stayed for a little while after that. It felt like being home again for the youngest player on the Leafs.
“I think it’s gonna become a little bit more lonely,” Knies conceded of living alone in a big city for the first time, “but I think it’ll be exciting to be in the city and around some of the other younger guys… I think it’s something I needed to do.”
It’s all new experiences these days for Knies. He’s had to grow up in a hurry for the Leafs, spending most of his rookie season, almost by necessity, on the left wing of Auston Matthews’ line. Tough stuff for just about any player, tougher still for a 21-year-old who jumped straight from college, skipping past the AHL entirely, into the NHL.
It’s gone about as expected.
Some ups, including a two-goal, three-point October outing in Tampa. Some lows too, including a recent (and very brief) stint on the fourth line following a stretch that saw him struggling to put up points and looking worn down.
“We’re seeing a young player that’s adjusting to the league,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.
At this time last season, he was still a Golden Gopher, still going to class at the University of Minnesota, still months away from earning an NHL paycheque.
“It’s been so fun this year,” Knies said recently.
Challenging, too. “Like, it’s pretty eye-opening how much these guys play and train on a daily basis,” Knies said. “It’s definitely a step up in the workload you have.”
Though he made his NHL debut late last season, it really hit Knies at training camp just how different the NHL was from what he knew previously. He saw how badly players want to stay at camp, how determined everyone, from the stars on down, were to arrive in great shape — and stay in great shape. He realized he would have to pay attention, up his level, and start treating this thing like he saw vets like Tavares treating it — like a job that demanded constant attention.
Knies lived at Tavares’ house when he joined the Leafs last spring and was back there again alongside fellow rookie Fraser Minten in the early days this season.
He nabbed little tips just by watching Tavares. How seriously Tavares took something as simple as his sleep, for instance. How Tavares was always looking for any advantage he could get to improve his health. Tavares was always listening to some podcast or another about that kind of thing.
He also saw how Tavares ate.
“It’s all organic, all the best stuff for you,” Knies said. “I think he opened my eyes up to a lot.”
Tavares even got Knies wearing blue light-blocking glasses, which are supposed to reduce strain on the eyes and improve sleep. Knies thinks they work. “It might just be mental,” he acknowledges, but now, he needs to have them around always.
Knies is proudly getting 9.5 hours of shut-eye every night. Unlike many of his teammates (Tavares included), Knies doesn’t have kids to shuttle off to school in the morning. He can sleep in ahead of a noon practice.
It’s the more subtle parts of the gig, not just on-the-ice stuff, that Knies is still figuring out for himself. The stuff that will help him best survive the 82-game (and beyond) grind, the stuff that could very well allow him to enjoy a long, productive career like Tavares.
Like how best to wind down after a game.
Knies prefers the hot tub to calm his muscles, but some guys, he notes, prefer the cold tub. Maybe cold is preferable? He’s not sure.
“I think I’m switching it up a lot trying to figure out what’s the best,” Knies said.
On the ice, it’s been much the same.
There have been moments in just about every game when Knies offers an alluring glimpse of what he might one day more permanently become for the Leafs: At 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds, a hard-to-slow-down scoring power forward.
Maybe the best representation of that came in the middle of December, when — with Kyle Dubas, the general manager who picked him at No. 57 in 2021, watching on — Knies took it to the house with force.
It was the kind of play that made you think Knies might one day score 25 or 30 goals in a season.
Knies not only has the big, strong frame. He’s willing to use it hunting pucks on the forecheck, keeping them alive down low in the offensive zone, attacking the net with force. He can be difficult to stop, like when he put Anaheim Ducks veteran defenceman Cam Fowler on his back earlier this month.
It’s the combination of size, hands, skating, smarts and competitiveness that’s allowed Knies to survive on the top line for most of the season.
He’s also frequently looked the part of the rookie still sorting it all out.
Sometimes, the decision-making falters, often because Knies doesn’t have as much time as he would have in college.
Knies has already eclipsed the 40 games he logged all of last season. The games are every other night. The road trips can be long and punishing.
“You’ve got to be mentally tough, you’ve got to adjust through video, you’ve got to manage and take care of your body. These are all things that players have to go through,” Keefe said. “Most of them will go through that in the American League. A player of Knies’ ability warrants him to be in the NHL, but it doesn’t mean he’s still not a young, developing guy.”
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