According to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, the Toronto Maple Leafs were ready to trade the draft pick that turned into Matthew Knies back at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
As a General Manager, you're only as good as the people you hire and thankfully Kyle Dubas hired Wes Clark as his Director of Scouting back in 2021, because he stopped Dubas from trading the pick and selecting Knies instead.
Here's how Simmons described the encounter: "Clark, though, was adamant: Dubas looked to his left and saw Clark’s taut face in the Leafs war room, and heard his words in a rather adamant tone: “Pick (Matthew) Knies and move on.” (via: Toronto Sun)
Dubas supposedly had a deal in placle to trade the No. 57 overall draft pick, and fortunately that never transpired as Knies has turned into one of the best players on the roster this season. With 29 goals and 55 points, he's been a perfect winger alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, and the fact that you can get that much production out of a player making league-minimum is what makes him so valuable.
As we all sit here hopeful that the Leafs will go on a long playoff run this spring, it sounds crazy to believe, but the team may go as far as Knies takes them. In 14 career playoff games, Knies has only three goals and seven points, but if he can step up that average, he'll be a big x-factor for the Leafs in the playoffs.
Knies is Leafs best draft pick since Matthews
We all know that Marner and Matthews need to step up for this team if they have any chance to win a playoff round (or four), but Knies can be a big help to his linemates if he can elevate his game. His style of play fits the playoffs perfectly, so if he can continue to wear down the opposition and find those dirty areas, I wouldn't be shocked if Knies can average a goal per-game in a playoff series.
The contract situation for John Tavares and Marner are more newsworthy right now, but Knies' deal could end up being the most important. Will the Leafs lock up Knies to a maximum eight-year contract, or will the team give him more of a bridge deal that walks him into free agency?
If you're in Knies camp, I'm not sure if an eight-year deal makes sense for the 22-year-old because of how much the salary-cap is going to rise. If the Leafs sign him to an eight-year $64M deal ($8M AAV), it's possible that his contract could be well underpaid by the end. Obviously Knies is getting a huge financial security and the Leafs also secure that player for close to a decade, but it is possible that Knies is leaving money on the table.
Knies could be better suited signing a five-year deal at around $6 or 7M per season, which would then set him up for a huge pay-day when he is eligible to become an UFA in 2030. If Knies continues to be a 30-goal player for the length of his contract, he could easily become a $10-12M player on that next contract based on his age and skillset and then sign that eight-year deal.
Regardless of what happens with the future of Knies, we should all just be thankful that we even got to see him in the blue-and-white because it was very possible he was going to be traded before Dubas drafted him.