NHL Rumor Roundup: Will The Maple Leafs Trade Matthew Knies To The Canadiens This Summer?
The Montreal Canadiens were reportedly working on a significant trade before last Friday's deadline, and a report out of Toronto claimed their target was Matthew Knies of the Toronto Maple Leafs .
Video Transcript
I'm Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News.
In today's NHL Rumor Roundup column, I'm looking at recent remarks made by Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos claiming that the Montreal Canadiens may have been trying to acquire Matthew Knies from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Now, Kypreos made those comments on Monday, and they came, two days after Canadiens General Manager Ken Hughes indicated that, he and his club had been working on what he called a significant trade before the deadline, and while it didn't go through in time for the deadline, they could revisit those negotiations during the summer.
Now, Kypreos claimed that the Maple Leafs were the team that the Canadiens were talking to, and while he couldn't confirm that Knies was the target, he mentioned that, Knies' name had been out there in the rumor mill and that several teams had been interested in him.
Now, Knies, for his part, expressed surprise that, he had popped up in trade rumors, but he didn't seem, too concerned about it.
He is in the first year of a six-year contract with the Maple Leafs with an average annual value just over seven million, but he lacks no-trade protection, and that means the Leafs can trade him anywhere without his consent.
Now, from the M-Maple Leafs' standpoint, if they make a trade with the Canadiens, the latter has plenty of promising young players and prospects if the Leafs want to engage in rebuilding their roster during the off-season.
From the Canadiens' standpoint, Knies would be an excellent fit among their top six forwards on either their first or second lines.
It remains to be seen what's going to come of all this, because of course, the trade market is now closed until the summer.
But you can bet that this isn't the last time we'll hear Matthew Knies and the Montreal Canadiens mentioned in the rumor mill.
