The NHL decided to do a bunch of trades all at once on Tuesday afternoon, and in the middle of the transaction chaos was perhaps the biggest deal of them all. The Buffalo Sabres traded defenseman Bowen Byram to the Chicago Blackhawks.
But it also means that the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost their biggest potential trade partner of the offseason.
Maple Leafs lose major Matthew Knies landing spot
Earlier in the week, it was rumored that the Maple Leafs were pondering a potential trade with the Blackhawks for the fourth-overall pick on Friday. It was going to be 23-year-old power forward Matthew Knies going to Chicago in the deal, as the Leafs shifted to more of a major rebuild with two top-five picks in the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft.
Well, now that cannot happen. The Blackhawks included the fourth-overall pick in the trade to get Byram from the Sabres.
Full trade details:
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 24, 2026
To Chicago:
- LD Bowen Byram
- LW Jordan Greenway
To Buffalo:
- 4th overall pick
- 45th overall pick
- RD Louis Crevier
Well, that is certainly a trade. Byram, who was just traded for Casey Mittelstadt in a one-for-one deal two years ago, somehow netted the Sabres the fourth-overall pick, a solid second-rounder this year, and 6-foot-8 defenseman Louis Crevier. An insane deal for Chicago to make as some sort of all-in move -- and it's for Bowen Byram, who hasn't even been a top-pairing defenseman in his career.
Now, it at least seems like the Leafs are more likely to keep Knies through the offseason. If the Leafs were to make a move like this -- getting two solid picks including the fourth-overall pick and a bottom-pairing defenseman -- straight up for Knies, it would be something that we could understand. It would set Toronto on more of a course looking for the future rather than trying to keep Auston Matthews and William Nylander around for as long as possible.
It could have been a reasonable path for the Leafs to go down if that was the trade return. And now, well, Knies is a much more impactful player than Byram in an undeniable way and on a contract that is going to be a bargain compared to what the newest Blackhawks defenseman wants as he's one year away from unrestricted free agency.
The actual trade makes no sense, but at least we know more of what's to come in Toronto.
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