Trade Matthew Knies? For Maple Leafs, hard to see how it adds up

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Published Jun 18, 2026  •  3 minute read

Matthew Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs in action against the San Jose Sharks earlier this year. Getty Images

Trading Matthew Knies doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense.

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Let the speculation run rampant about the future of the 23-year-old Maple Leafs winger.

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As long as it’s just that — speculation.

The best spot for Knies to be when the 2026-27 National Hockey League regular season opens is in the Maple Leafs lineup, whether it’s on the left side of captain Auston Matthews or John Tavares or another top-six centre the Leafs might have acquired during the summer.

The same reasons why Knies would be awfully attractive to teams across the NHL are precisely why Leafs general manager John Chayka should keep him.

Knies is young and he’s on the way to being a top power forward in the NHL. Furthermore, his contract, which already favours the Leafs, is only going to look better next season and beyond.

A lot of what former GM Brad Treliving did during his time in Toronto didn’t work before he was let go in March.

Team-friendly contract

There’s no denying that the six-year pact with an average annual value of $7.75 million US signed by Knies last June, however, was one of Treliving’s best accomplishments during his three-year stint in Toronto.

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For Chayka, there’s nothing wrong about listening to offers on Knies, seeking them, however you want to put it.

The hiring of an experienced head coach in Jim Hiller on Wednesday suggests the Leafs consider themselves in win-now mode.

Getting a package of prospects and picks for Knies doesn’t connect with the idea the Leafs think this past season with no playoffs was a one-off. That type of return points at rebuilding. No one with the Leafs has suggested that’s the route they’re currently going to take.

If that kind of return is what the Leafs were to receive, it would create a Knies-sized hole in the top six. Wouldn’t the club rather have Knies and one of Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg on the wing instead of just one of the unproven (at the NHL level) youngsters?

Unless the Leafs were to get a young defenceman who can make an impact immediately — and by that we mean enabling the Leafs to take a significant step defensively — how does trading Knies set the Leafs up better for 2026-27? Why would any team with serious designs on the Stanley Cup be willing to give up that kind of player, no matter how bright Knies’ future might be?

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Do we really need to point out why it would be foolish to trade Knies within the Atlantic Division, to, say, the Montreal Canadiens?

Never mind that the Leafs and Canadiens were talking about a Knies trade in March a few weeks before Treliving was shown the door. It’s an avenue that Chayka should ignore, if it’s even open again.

The Minten lesson

It’s bad enough that the Leafs will be reminded of what they could have had in Fraser Minten every time they play another division rival, the Boston Bruins.

The 21-year-old, at worst, will be the Bruins’ third-line centre well into the future. That’s if he doesn’t develop to the point where he cements a top-six role, which is possible.

We could see the upward trend Minten’s development was taking when Treliving shipped him off to the Bruins in March 2025 in the Brandon Carlo trade, one of Treliving’s biggest gaffes.

The Leafs chose Knies 57th in the 2021 draft. In the five years since, only five players selected that year — Wyatt Johnston (Dallas), Matty Beniers (Seattle), Dylan Guenther (Arizona), Mason McTavish (Anaheim) and William Eklund (San Jose) — have produced more in the NHL than Knies’ 160 points. And none of those five were drafted after Knies.

With seasons of 29 goals and 23 goals, and a career-best 66 points in 2025-26, Knies has laid the foundation to being an impactful NHL player for the next decade.

That should continue to unfold in Toronto, not another NHL city.

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X: @koshtorontosun

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