Deal fell through: Knies could have been traded for Fleury and Hagel

Marc-Olivier Cook
Deal fell through: Knies could have been traded for Fleury and Hagel
Credit: Capture d'écran / X

The Canadiens came very close to acquiring Matthew Knies at the last trade deadline.

But the trade ultimately didn't happen… because the Leafs and the Habs ran out of time to finalize the deal.

That said, did you know this wasn't the first time Knies was on the verge of changing teams? It also happened a few years ago…

Knies was drafted in 2021, and in the months that followed, a trade was in the works between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Leafs. If it had gone through, the trade in question would have looked something like this (according to Chris Johnston):

  • Matthew Knies to Chicago
  • Brandon Hagel and Marc-André Fleury to Toronto

Johnston talked about it on his podcast and mentioned that he believes it was Brendan Shanahan (Kyle Dubas's former boss) who blocked the trade. Imagine if it had worked out…

If it had worked out, the picture in the East would be different today.

Brandon Hagel wouldn't have helped the Lightning achieve so much success over the past four years, and in Toronto, maybe it would have also helped the Leafs reach the next level. Hagel has become an elite NHL player, and Fleury has had some good years with the Wild after leaving Chicago… 

Oh well.

It's always interesting to learn about old trades that didn't end up happening.

It gives you a sense of a player's value at that time: in 2021, even though Knies had just been drafted, the Leafs had a (very) solid offer on the table for the power forward. And he's still a valuable asset today… but I wonder if the Leafs regret not making that deal after all.

Oh, and let's note that the two GMs in Toronto who wanted to trade Knies (Kyle Dubas and Brad Treliving) lost their jobs.

John Chayka knows what he has to do if he wants to stick around in Toronto for a while… hehe. 


In a nutshell

– Well done.

– I can't wait!

– Um…

– At least.

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