BREAKING NEWS: Prospects for the Toronto Maple Leafs: Re-signing…Read More

Over the next 11 months, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to make a number of contract decisions. Both Mitch Marner and team captain John Tavares are in the final year of their contracts. Matthew Knies, a forward, has a contract that is also worth considering.

Over the next 11 months, the Toronto Maple Leafs will have to make a number of contract decisions.

Both Mitch Marner and team captain John Tavares are in the final year of their contracts. Marner is looking for a lucrative long-term contract, but Tavares’ current salary of $11 million should be far less than what the Toronto Maple Leafs can pay him to re-sign. (Data on contracts taken from puckpedia.com)

There is another deal with the Leafs to consider. Moving forward In the summer of next year, Matthew Knies, who is now in the last year of his Entry Level Contract (ELC), will become a restricted free agent (RFA).

Knies, a 6’3 and 216-pound winger with tremendous potential, is 21 years old.

The Matthew Knies and the Toronto Maple Leafs Moving Ahead
Knies was selected with the 57th overall pick by former Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas in the second round of the 2021 NHL draft. Before signing a contract with Toronto at the conclusion of the 2022–2023 season, the Arizona native competed for the United States in the Olympics, World Junior Championship, and NCAA Final for the University of Minnesota.

In 80 games, Knies had a respectable debut campaign (15 goals, 20 assists). Knies improved in the playoff series against Boston the previous season, after displaying glimpses of his talent in the 2023 playoffs.

He scored two goals (including the game-winning overtime goal in Game 5) and gave the more physically strong Bruins squad some pushback with 23 hits. (Hockey-reference.com provided all statistics.)

In re-signing a few Leafs players, general manager Brad Treliving has shown initiative. The ones he most recently worked with are Bobby McMann, Timothy Liljegren, Joseph Woll, and Simon Benoit. From a general manager’s perspective, Knies should be re-signed right now. Treliving runs a higher danger of the price rising the longer he waits.

I think Knies will be a successful player under new head coach Craig Berube. This season, he will play a bigger part in the Leafs top six and could score more points. Knies can be signed to a long-term contract again for a lot less money now than it will be later, after he could have a 50-point campaign. Knies’ next contract is likely to be a five- or six-year agreement earning $3.5 million to $4 million per year.