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The Toronto Maple Leafs will face a number of decisions over the next 12 months, one of which we have discussed ad nauseum since the club was eliminated by Boston in the first round, another which we mentioned in yesterday’s column regarding team captain John Tavares. Another that may be on the mind of GM Brad Treliving is the contract status of 21-year-old Matthew Knies, which was the point of discussion on one of Steve Dangle’s recent podcasts.
The 6’3” 214 lb. winger is a unicorn, a big physical forward drafted by former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas 57th overall in 2021. The Arizona native played in the Olympics and World Junior for the United States and in the NCAA Final for the University of Minnesota before signing with Toronto at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Knies showed hints of his future potential in the Leafs playoff run before being concussed by Sam Bennett in the second-round series against Florida, and had a decent rookie season (15 goals, 20 assists) in 80 games, but really stepped up in the playoff series against Boston, scoring two goals(including the overtime game-winner in Game 5) and providing some pushback to the more physical Bruins.
Treliving has shown a proactive nature in his year as Leafs GM. Facing the possibility of winger Bobby McMann going to unrestricted free agency this summer after a surprising 15-goal campaign, he signed the big forward to a two-year, $2.7 million extension during the season. Same thing with defenseman Simon Benoit, who rose from being a borderline NHLer to playing effectively alongside Jake McCabe in the playoffs. Treliving signed the 25-year-old to a three-year, $4.05 million deal.
Earlier this month, Toronto extended Joseph Woll, who had a year left on his deal and would’ve been a restricted free agent next summer, to a three-year contract extension.
It appears that the big winger will play all season on the left side with either Auston Matthews or Tavares, and optimistically he could score in the 25-to-30 goal range, which would be advantageous going into restricted free agency next summer. The Leafs could choose to go the bridge route since they have four years of control before he can become an unrestricted free agent, but a case can be made for Treliving to try getting a long-term deal done with Knies now before he has a big offensive year.
To get Knies to sign a long-term deal, the Leafs have to make it worth his while. The LA Kings made a proactive move when they signed big forward Quinton Byfield to a five-year, $31.25 million deal, which is a great move for the former second-overall pick coming off his first 20-goal season. A model for a Knies could be the six-year deal that the Capitals signed Tom Wilson to after he scored 14 goals and was an integral part of their Cup victory in 2018. The cap hit on that deal was $5.16 million, which would probably be closer to $6 million in terms of a percentage of a larger salary cap today.
If you need an example of why the Leafs should do this, look no further than the opportunity that GM Lou Lamoriello missed in 2017 in getting William Nylander locked up before he had another big offensive season. That led to the contract impasse in 2018 and Dubas capitulating at the 11th hour on a six-year contract and eventually led to the costly deals for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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