The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t going to stay quiet for very long. The club has already made major waves with two huge trades this offseason.
Now, it looks like another massive one could be on the horizon. The deal involves Matthews Knies, as two new suitors have joined the fray.
According to RG Media’s Marco D’Amico, the Buffalo Sabres and their recently acquired fourth-overall pick could be in play for Knies. The Sabres landed the pick from the Chicago Blackhawks in the Bowen Byram trade on Tuesday night.
Word of discussions with Buffalo and the 4th overall pick.
— Marco D'Amico (@mndamico) June 24, 2026
San Jose also said to be of interest here as well.
Montreal remains interested, but hard to compete with the above teams. https://t.co/OAwk8WMzg1
Meanwhile, the other team D’Amico believes to be in the hunt is the San Jose Sharks. They landed the ninth-overall pick on Tuesday as well, in a trade with the Ottawa Senators.
It’s also worth noting that the Sharks have two top-10 picks, including the second-overall pick. Would Knies be in play for the second-overall pick? That’s the type of thought that should send chills down the spine of every NHL club.
Sabres face challenge in landing Knies
While a Sabres-Maple Leafs deal involving Knies looks good on the surface, the fact is that there’s one considerable challenge Buffalo would have to overcome. That challenge involves having enough cap space.
Following Buffalo’s moves, they’ll have about $21 million in cap space. However, they still need to re-sign RFAs Peyton Krebs and Zach Benson. Depending on how much it costs to keep those two, adding Knies’ $7.75 million cap hit could be a challenge.
As such, that’s a consideration that Buffalo would have to keep in mind.
That’s not something the Sharks would be concerned about. As it stands, San Jose has $46 million in cap room, making it easy to fit Knies’ hit into their cap structure.
It’s worth noting that there is a bit of a ticking clock on this deal. The picks in question would be for the 2026 NHL Draft. Therefore, the Maple Leafs would need to finalize the trade with whomever they choose before Friday’s first round.
That’s why Thursday and Friday morning could be busy for John Chayka and reporters. There’s no question that there will be fireworks leading up to Friday’s first round. So, don’t touch that dial.
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