If the Leafs want to improve, teams will ask for Matthew Knies

In recent years, the Leafs have never been afraid to part with valuable picks or prospects in order to improve. At least, in the Kyle Dubas era.

But now that he’s gone, will his replacement be as aggressive? In Toronto, fans aren’t very patient, and they’ll want help in the run-up to the trade deadline.

So what could the team be giving away? Journalist Jonas Siegel, who covers the Maple Leafs’ activities, lent himself to the exercise on The Athletic.

Although Matthew Knies is a very important player on the team (14 points in 30 games), he could be an important piece in a trade. In any case, if the Leafs’ GM calls, Knies will be a cliable of his counterparts.

Internally, however, the forward seems to be a no-go. Why part with a guy who has one point every two games, is still young and makes less than a million dollars a season? Trading him would be crazy.

As Siegel points out in his text, Knies is important for the present and the future. And he’s absolutely right. Barring a major trade, where Toronto acquires a super star under contract, I don’t see why Knies would move.

But according to Siegel, the real untouchables among the prospects are Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. In Minten’s case, he’s played four games in the big league this season. Both look close to contributing to the NHL on a regular basis, however. With the contracts of John Tavares, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander expiring in the next two years (not all of them will be re-signed), these prospects will have/have very high value.

So, back to the original question: what can Toronto give to improve? They have their first-round picks, but as this chart shows, that hasn’t paid off in recent years…

Will the new management be more aware of the value of their picks?

Stay tuned.

In Brief

– It’s official.

– Obviously.

– Sad news.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Reginald Savage, who died of cancer at the age of 53. A pioneer for blacks in Quebec junior hockey. A true pioneer.

May his soul rest in peace.

Photo: RDS pic.twitter.com/4JZeApGyrW

– Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) December 29, 2023

– The former CF man is attracting the attention of the LA Galaxy.