Bad News for the Toronto Maple Leafs as Matthew Knies Exits Game with Apparent Injury vs. the Blue Jackets

If it wasn't bad enough that the Toronto Maple Leafs were being dismantled by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they ended up being bit by the injury bug yet again as forward Matthew Knies ended up getting tangled up with a linesman.

Knies was body-checked and fell to the ice and ended up bumping into the linesman who was standing at the bench.

It's a nasty fall for Knies and concerning given he already missed time this season with concussion-like symptoms due to a higher than normal hit by Vegas' Zach Whitecloud.

The Maple Leafs forward left the bench early, but as the third period started he was nowhere to be seen. It was then announced he would not be returning to Wednesday's game.

If Knies were to miss more time due to the incident, he would join John Tavares and Max Pacioretty on the shelf as Toronto's once healthy (for the most part) lineup has now devolved into a November-esque flurry of ailments.

Building off his 2023-24 breakout season, Knies has 18 goals and 13 assists in 47 games for the Maple Leafs and has been not only one of the team's bright spots but has cemented himself as a key part of the team going into the next generation.

A restricted free agent at the end of the year, Toronto is no doubt going to give him a lot of money to keep him around, and another injury derailing his momentum is an unfortunate roadblock in his season.

Look for Toronto to make yet another roster move as well potentially, and after calling up forward Jacob Quillan, could bring someone like Nikita Grebenkin or Alex Steeves back for a spell.

Knies' current status is unknown, though no doubt the Maple Leafs are hoping it's just a case of a stinger, and nothing that ends up crippling their momentum.