This may sound hard to believe but Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies is the team's only untouchable player.
I could make a case that trading Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and/or Mitch Marner makes sense because of the return you'd get, but I can't make an argument of trading a 22-year-old, 6-foot-3, 225 pound winger on a rookie contract.
I'm not saying that the Leafs need to sign Knies to an eight-year contract worth $8M AAV, but I am saying that the Leafs can't trade him at the Deadline this year.
Knies is everything you want out of a player on an Entry Level Contract and as lame as this sounds, you can't teach size.
Matthew Knies Is Toronto Maple Leafs Only Untouchable Player
It is true that Knies current shooting-percentage is not sustainable, but he's a 22 year-old 6'3 power-forward, so he doesn't have to rack up so many goals to be effective.
Even when Knies reverts back to his shooting percentage from last year and averages the same shots per night (which isn't a lot), he'll still be an effective compliment to the skill of Marner and Matthews, he'll still use his size down low, and he'll still be an above average player on a league-minimum contract.
The argument for trading Knies isn't that he's a bad player, or that he isn't helping the Leafs. The reason his name comes up in conversation is because of how good he is. It's because of how rare 6'3 power-forwards are in the NHL. It's because trading Knies would get the Leafs into conversations about every single player available - Knies will bring back a star.
But that's also the reason you don't trade him: he's really valuable. Especially because he has essentially no cap-hit. If you trade him, you're bringing in a player making 5 or 10 x what Knies' makes, and given the Leafs cap troubles, I find it hard to believe anyone could bring more value than what Knies is bringing to the table for no cap-hit.
It's possible that the only way the Leafs can get the number-one defenseman they need is by moving Knies, but I truly believe that Knies is one of the most valuable players on the team and that moving a 22 year old power-forward with no cap hit is just insane. If you trade Knies for Dobson there is a gaping hole up front, the cap situation is even worse and the Leafs are back to being a small, skilled team with no one big up front - no thanks.
Knies is just getting started and should be the Leafs only untouchable player at the NHL Trade Deadline.