In recent weeks, there have been numerous changes to the Toronto Maple Leafs under the direction of new general manager John Chayka, who not only fired head coach Craig Berube but also hired former Leafs assistant coach Jim Hiller as his replacement.
Chayka has also traded goaltender Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers while acquiring defenseman Darren Raddysh from the divisional rival Tampa Bay Lightning and locking him up to a lengthy contract extension. Meanwhile, forward Matthew Knies has found himself embroiled in recent trade rumors, and was even reportedly on his way to the Montreal Canadiens at the NHL Trade Deadline in March before the deal fell through, allegedly due to the paperwork being filed too late.
As far as what Chayka had to say about the future of Knies with the Leafs, it doesn’t sound like Toronto fans have to worry about seeing him in another club’s jersey any time soon, as he said a trade of a young core piece is “not probable”.
“Maple Leafs GM John Chayka says he’s going to evaluate everything when it comes to trade speculation, but says it’s ‘not probable’ when it comes to trading a young, core player such as Matthew Knies,” reported Arun Srinivasan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Toronto Maple Leafs Forward Matthew Knies Has Been Embroiled In Trade Rumors
Not only have the Maple Leafs been faced with numerous rumors surrounding the futures of both Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly with the club, but Knies has found himself in the middle of trade rumors.
Even after the reported deal that would have sent him to the divisional rival Montreal Canadiens in March fell through, Knies has still been at the forefront of names with potential to be traded by Chayka to another club.
NHL Insider Darren Dreger recently speculated that Knies could soon be on the move from Toronto, who selected him in the second round (57th overall pick) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
“Depending on who you talk to, there are a number NHL executives out there who believe that Matthew Knies will be traded,” Dreger said during a recent appearance on TSN’s That’s Hockey with Gino Reda.
“I don’t think you’re going to get anything as definitive as that from the Maple Leafs at this point, but John Chayka is definitely doing his due diligence, as are other clubs, finding out why Matthew Knies would be available for trade.”
“From a Toronto standpoint, you’re just fetching for whatever the best return can be, I know that Matthew Knies is working hard during this offseason, he’s trying to trim down,” Dreger added.
“He was in the mid 230s, that was his playing weight. He’s a big power forward, but I think he believes he can be a little quicker if he gets into the 220s and maybe less injury prone, but again, there’s belief that the Leafs are at least willing to trade Matthew Knies, the conversations are ongoing with multiple teams with considerable interest.”
Matthew Knies Recently Signed An Extension In Toronto
Last summer, the Maple Leafs signed Knies to six-year, $46.5 million contract extension.
The deal carries a salary cap hit of $7.75 million, and runs through 2031.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post John Chayka Breaks Silence On Matthew Knies’ Future With Maple Leafs Amid Trade Buzz appeared first on HEAVY.