The Toronto Maple Leafs are already making moves ahead of the NHL trade deadline. They have moved center Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche for a very nice first-round pick package and continue to monitor the trade market for several of their other players.
But it could be an even bigger trade deadline than we ever imagined from the Maple Leafs.
Elliotte Friedman drops Maple Leafs bombshell ahead of trade deadline
On Thursday evening, as we entered the final 24 hours of teams around the NHL being able to make mid-season trades, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman dropped a very brief article to just update everyone on what he's hearing in the moment.
What Friedman led with is the most shocking and it involves the Maple Leafs.
"Toronto is all about adding assets. Young players, prospects, picks. You name it, they want to hear about it. There aren’t a ton in the system, so they want to accumulate. Then, they can start figuring out their future — maybe use what they get to chase bigger fish," Friedman wrote.
"The chances of Auston Matthews getting traded now are equal to John Blutarsky’s grade-point average. William Nylander and John Tavares aren’t going anywhere. I heard some Matthew Knies, and that, to me, is the Maple Leafs seeing if there’s a massive offer they can’t turn down. That is the only way I see it happening."
While it is obvious that the Leafs are very far from ever moving on from the likes of Matthews and Nylander, and will not move hometown player John Tavares (who took a massive paycut to stay in Toronto) for no reason, the fact that the Leafs are reportedly listening in on offers for 23-year-old winger Matthew Knies is shocking, at the very least.
Knies broke out last season with a strong 29-goal campaign while being locked next to Matthews. Now, with less skill in the top six thanks to Mitch Marner leaving last summer, Knies has taken on more responsibility to generate that same level of offense, and it hasn't been a perfect third NHL season from the American winger.
Just 16 goals so far, but he does have 50 points in 59 games and most teams around the NHL would kill for their 23-year-old wingers to have a stat line like that.
But as the Maple Leafs continue to move into the future and look at just absolutely everything, the thought process is that they can maybe get a blockbuster offer for Knies from a team desperate for his skillset, that would hypothetically fill out their blue line with the puckmovers they need, and maybe add some forward talent, as well.
That's, of course, what we're assuming because that is all the information we're given: The Leafs are listening and looking for teams to give their best offer for Knies ahead of Friday's trade deadline.
The Leafs will be making more moves before Friday at 3:00 p.m. -- Scott Laughton, Bobby McMann, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson is still all out there -- but it would be shocking if this level of franchise-shifting trade was made within the next 24 hours.