A new chapter has begun for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the franchise officially kicked off the 2026 NHL Draft by selecting Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick on Friday night. Since taking over GM duties from the dismissed Brad Treliving earlier in the offseason, John Chayka has already put his stamp on the roster.
His early tenure has included a coaching overhaul—moving on from Craig Berube and bringing in Jim Hiller—as well as a series of notable roster transactions. Among them was a swap sending goaltender Joseph Woll to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Samuel Ersson, who was later flipped to the Ottawa Senators.
Chayka’s roster reshaping continued Saturday with another deal involving defenseman Brandon Carlo, previously acquired at the 2025 trade deadline, who was moved to the St. Louis Blues.
But with so much uncertainty surrounding the future of veteran defenseman Morgan Rielly with the club, the status of Matthew Knies has also come into question.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Allegedly Want To Make A “Grand Slam” Move Involving Matthew Knies
According to NHL Insider Frank Seravalli, the Maple Leafs want to make a “grand slam” type of move, but that opposition NHL general managers are weary of their reported asking price in return for Knies.
“(The Maple Leafs) are trying to hit a grand slam upper deck home run; the reaction that I’ve gotten around the league: We like Matt Knies a lot…we might even love him, but we don’t think he’s worth what Toronto’s asking,” Seravalli said on Friday on The Big Show.
After Mitch Marner departed for the Vegas Golden Knights last offseason, the Toronto Maple Leafs leaned more heavily on Matthew Knies, a 2021 second-round pick (57th overall), to expand his offensive responsibilities.
Knies responded with a strong workload across 79 games, producing 23 goals and 43 assists—setting a new personal best in assists.
He still has five years left on his contract with a $7.75 million cap hit.
Matthew Knies Was Nearly Traded To The Canadiens
According to an explosive report that was released earlier this month, the Maple Leafs came very close to trading Knies to the bitter rival Montreal Canadiens, but the deal fell through at the last minute because of late paperwork.
As noted by NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman during a recent “32 Thoughts” podcast, the trade fell apart because it was submitted just a fraction too late after the 3:00 p.m. ET deadline on March 6.
“Now, I’ve heard some different variations on why it was late and whose fault it was that it was late, but I don’t know for sure,” Friedman said. “But suffice it to say, a lot of people pointed fingers at other people or gave different reasons as to why it didn’t happen.”
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