The Maple Leafs have managed to turn Matthew Knies into a talking point for all the wrong reasons.
For a player who has already carved out a role as a scoring, physical presence on a team-friendly contract, Knies should feel like part of the club’s core. Instead, his name has been dragged into offseason trade chatter, and that has only fueled more criticism of how Toronto has handled him.
That frustration spilled onto Sportsnet’s Real Kyper and Bourne, where Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee dug into the Leafs’ power-play setup and landed on Knies as the player who should be most irritated. The discussion started with No. 1 overall pick Gavin McKenna and whether he should be on the top power-play unit right away, but the conversation quickly shifted to who was being left out.
Kypreos didn’t hide his disbelief over Knies being pushed aside. “I don't get it.
I don't get it. I mean this guy is 7.5 million that you committed to, long-term deal,” said Kypreos.
He pointed to Knies as a player in his “wheelhouse” and said the young forward is almost 24 and still has years ahead as one of the NHL’s best power forwards.
The issue, for Kypreos, was not just where Knies fits, but how little he is being used with the man advantage. He took exception to the idea that Knies is only seeing the final 20 seconds of power-play time.
When McKee tried to push back by pointing to the Leafs’ second unit, Kypreos wasn’t interested in the explanation. “You think you're pulling off (Auston) Matthews and (William) Nylander after a minute?”
he asked.
Bourne also questioned why Jack Roslovic had landed on the top unit. He noted Toronto’s 1-3-1 setup and argued that Nylander is a better passer than Matthews, which makes a left-handed shot like Knies a natural fit in the bumper spot. “Knies might be a little frustrated by that,” Bourne said, with Kypreos agreeing.
The panel then circled back to the trade rumors themselves. Bourne asked whether that noise was over, and Kypreos said he didn’t think it was, even if nothing appears close. His view was that Knies needs time to settle in and produce.
By the end of the segment, the message was clear: Toronto cannot afford to mishandle Knies. With huge, record-setting contracts being handed out to young players around the NHL, moving a foundational power forward would be a costly mistake in asset management. The Leafs, as the panel saw it, need to recognize exactly what they have.
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