Firing As A Preventative Measure 

The Toronto Maple Leafs return to action on Friday in the first of back-to-back weekend games at home against the Carolina Hurricanes. The club saw New Jersey, St. Louis, and Calgary earn points in the race to the bottom, but there are still eight teams below them in the standings, all of which have games in hand. 

Nearly two weeks after the trade deadline, details have begun to emerge regarding some of the chatter the Leafs may have been involved in. GM Brad Treliving, as has been widely reported, put out the name of winger Matthew Knies on the market to see what offers the Leafs would receive. 

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in his 32 Thoughts column said that the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils and Utah Mammoth all “showed serious interest” in Knies. Friedman also added that there have been widespread denials that the Canadiens went far down the road in trade discussions, but hinted at some skepticism.

The chatter of the Leafs putting Knies on the market because of the exorbitant asking price that St. Louis made for center Robert Thomas, defenseman Colton Parayko, and winger Jordan Kyrou makes sense on the part of Treliving. Friedman said that some clubs did not believe that Toronto were looking to deal Knies, but in retrospect may believe there was a possibility.

There is no harm in listening, but if Treliving went further down the road of possibly trading the 23-year-old winger, it is another mark in the negative column of whether to keep him as GM past this season. Taking into consideration Treliving’s talent evaluation in the trade market, especially the deals made at last year’s deadline for Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton, the hierarchy at MLSE should have pause for him dealing any of the core pieces currently on the roster. 

Knies is the only core piece to not have trade protection, and while no player is untradeable, the Leafs would have to get significantly overpaid in the form of either a #2 center or a #1 defenseman to make that deal palatable. In other news, Friedman reports that Leafs team captain Auston Matthews may be headed to have his MCL tear surgically repaired, but that there is a high level of confidence that he will be available for the start of next season.