The Toronto Maple Leafs didn't just lock up a promising young forward when they signed Matthew Knies to a new contract-they raised the stakes.
No longer flying under the radar, Knies now enters the 2025-2026 season facing a different kind of pressure: the kind that comes with expectations, responsibility and the need to produce.
While playing under his entry-level contract and getting acclimated to NHL hockey, the Maple Leafs' former second-round draft pick was not expected to produce. Now, with Mitch Marner's exit, the team has lost an elite player, and they need someone to replenish the production.
As the Leafs look to take another step forward, they'll be relying on Knies in a much bigger role.
As soon as the ink dried on Knies' new deal, the perception around him changed. In two short seasons, the left winger has morphed from a tantalizing prospect to an emerging power with lofty expectations.
While the Maple Leafs and their fans are thrilled with the deal, with great wealth comes great responsibility. The loss of the hundred-point winger Marner heightens the pressure on Knies.
Since his three-game cameo during the 2022-2023 playoffs, when he seamlessly entered NHL postseason hockey, Knies has blossomed over the last two seasons. He notched fifteen goals during his rookie year and followed it up with twenty-nine goals in 2024-2025.
His salary for those two years was $975 000 annually. Knies' new six-year deal comes with a $7.75 million AAV. For that money and coming off last season, when he was one of the league's top power forwards, the minimum expectation heading into the 2025-2026 season is 30-30-60 for goals-assists-points.
Knies will be expected to play both special teams' units and deliver strong two-way hockey. Along with his center, captain Auston Matthews, and William Nylander, he is part of the new core of forwards that the Leafs will be depending on to lead them.
Over his tenure with the Leafs, there have been an excess of players ahead of him in the team's pecking order, such as Matthews, Nylander, Marner, and John Tavares. Marner is gone, and Tavares is in his twilight years.
Now, Knies must produce. He's expected to deliver. He needs only to ask Tavares about how that works in the Toronto spotlight. Despite year-over-year consistent production, the GTA product's free-agency signing and homecoming were often accompanied by a "Yeah, but..." attached to his $11 million AAV for the past seven seasons.
The Maple Leafs and their fans can take solace in the fact that Knies appears capable of handling the increased responsibilities. He seems intent on consuming a leadership role, which he demonstrated by saying the team would be "stronger" after Marner left.
Starting this Fall, Knies begins his next test as a Maple Leafs player, trying to manage the pressure and expectations of playing in the Toronto market with raised stakes and an increased spotlight. It promises to be his toughest test yet.