Matt Knies, the highly touted power forward from the University of Minnesota, is finally joining the Maple Leafs.
A second-round pick in the 2021 NHL draft, Knies鈥檚 sophomore college season came to a disappointing end Saturday and, after taking some time to consider his future, he decided to turn professional.
Knies signed an entry-level deal worth $925,000 (U.S.) a year, basically taking the last of the salary cap space the Leafs had remaining.
鈥淚n two seasons playing for the University of Minnesota, Matthew has participated in two Big Ten championship games, two NCAA Frozen Four championships, two world junior championship tournaments and one Winter Olympic Games,鈥 Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said. 鈥淭he impact of that experience, in addition to the massive steps the program at University of Minnesota has helped him take on and off the ice, are something that we are forever grateful for. We look forward to welcoming Matthew to our club this week and helping him continue down the great development path.鈥
Knies is expected to join the team Monday as it begins a three-game road trip to finish the regular season. The Leafs play Monday in Sunrise, Fla., Tuesday in Tampa and Thursday in New York against the Rangers.
鈥(Knies) had a great year this year, got a lot of confidence,鈥 Leafs centre Auston Matthews said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a mature kid. A big boy. I鈥檓 sure he can handle his own. It鈥檚 going to be fun to get to know him better and see him in this atmosphere. I鈥檓 sure he鈥檚 excited.鈥
Knies is from Phoenix, where Matthews spent his minor hockey years. Matthews made the leap to the NHL at 18; Knies chose to play at Minnesota to develop his game. The Leafs wanted to sign him last year, but he wanted one more year because the Gophers program was going to be loaded with a real shot at the national championship. Knies and the Gophers fell just short of the goal, losing the final to Quinnipiac in overtime.
鈥淲e were all following along,鈥 said Leafs forward Alex Kerfoot, a Harvard graduate. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an incredible player and has had an incredible season.鈥
鈥淭hat was a tough loss for him the other night,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 exciting for a lot of these (college) kids to get their opportunity now. He鈥檚 been a pretty big prospect for us for a couple of years now. So it will be fun to see what he鈥檚 about.鈥
The 20-year-old Knies is six-foot-three and 210 pounds. He had 21 goals and 21 assists in 40 games this year and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. Scouts project him to be a top-six power forward on left wing. Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe will have to decide how to deploy him and when.
鈥淚 haven鈥檛 thought a lot about it at this point,鈥 Keefe said Sunday. 鈥淲e have enough going on here. (When he gets here) we鈥檒l proceed accordingly.鈥
There is a great deal of optimism surrounding Knies, deemed by many to be the steal of the 2021 draft. That year, the pandemic interrupted seasons and the growth of young players. The draft went ahead with educated guess work as a big part of the equation.
Leafs assistant GM Hayley Wickenheiser, who is in charge of player development, offered a positive review earlier this season.
鈥淔rom a development perspective, he鈥檚 doing all the things that we鈥檝e asked,鈥 Wickenheiser told the Star. 鈥淗e鈥檚 dominating physically. He鈥檚 scoring goals in tight, but also from those mid- to long-range spots. He鈥檚 scored at key moments, getting goals, overtime goals and being a physical presence game in and game out, consistently through the year.鈥
When the dust settled at the trade deadline, the path for Knies to turn pro seemed simple: The Leafs had a roster spot and enough salary-cap space. But that changed when goaltender Matt Murray injured his head April 2. Suddenly they needed Joseph Woll as a backup, and that used up cap space. There would be no room for Knies.
But, on Saturday, the Leafs sent Woll to the Marlies, called up Wayne Simmonds and went without an NHL goalie as a backup to Ilya Samsonov. They signed university goalie Jett Alexander to a one-day amateur contract 鈥 he even played the final 70 seconds against Montreal.
That combined to create a roster emergency, allowing them to recall Woll without a dollar of his salary counting against the cap under a rarely used cap exemption. When they sent Simmonds back to the Marlies, there was room to sign Knies while at the same time keeping Woll around as a backup.
Signing and playing a regular-season game this year is important to the player, as it will burn a year of his contract and allow him to get to unrestricted free agency a year sooner.
The question now is not just when will Knies play, but how effective will he be. There鈥檚 a certain stream of logic, extolled in a Dave Poulin column, that the best chance for college players to make an impression is now because they鈥檝e had a full season and should be at their prime. But not all college players make the leap to the pros right away.
鈥淭he jump for everyone is a little bit different,鈥 Kerfoot said. 鈥淗e seems like a really mature kid, seems like a really good hockey player. He鈥檚 got a lot of tools to make him a really good hockey player. Big kid, can protect the puck really well, can shoot it. Seems like a dynamic hockey player. We鈥檒l see how it goes.鈥
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