Leafs nation connected two separate stories and created a Matthew Knies trade panic
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Matthew Knies story that blew up social media may have been a case of broken telephone, new reporting suggests.
Reporting that indicated the Toronto Maple Leafs could deal star forward Matthew Knies to the Montreal Canadiens surprised many as hard to believe, and that intuition appears correct.
Reports suggested that the Canadiens had a late deal nixed that just missed the trade deadline, alongside reporting that Matthew Knies and Montreal had been discussed.
Those reports merged into one for some, and is being confirmed by insiders that those two stories don't connect to one another.
David Pagnotta says Knies was not the player Montreal was close on
David Pagnotta of 'The Fourth Period' stated that Matthew Knies was not the player that the Montreal Canadiens were attempting to acquire.
Toronto right now is kinda going a little nuts with this whole Montreal-Matthew Knies thing, I don't believe, because I'm not led to believe, that Knies is the guy that [Montreal] were really close on. - David Pagnotta (03/11/26)
Pagnotta further added that it was a different player that the Canadiens were trying to acquire, who specifically is unknown, but that it didn't finalize.
The Canadiens stayed pat at the deadline, as was expected of them, but did look for upgrades at both forward and defense, sitting third in the Atlantic with a 36-18-10 record and 82 points.
CJ confirms the Knies interest and the Montreal deadline deal were two separate things
Further adding to the Pagnotta report is Chris Johnston, who also affirms that Knies was not heading to the Canadiens at the deadline.
According to Johnston on 'The Chris Johnston Show' some knots may have been crossed, as a deal involving Knies to Montreal wasn't in the process of happening.
What happened was reports of the Canadiens looking to make a late blockbuster trade, and rumors getting out that Knies was floated as a target of Montreal, led to the two being thought to be the same rumor, but as made clear, the two situations are separate.
While Matthew Knies was involved in trade talks, he wasn't heading to the Montreal Canadiens, and talks between himself and the Leafs appeared largely exploratory rather than Toronto's consideration of moving him.
The Leafs listened on Knies for a massive offer and that's just smart asset management
The Toronto Maple Leafs indications are that they weren't ready to move on from Matthew Knies, but willing to hear out what a hypothetical market looks like for the 23-year-old.
Knies, 23, has 17 goals, 38 assists, & 55 points in 63 games this season for Toronto, a key member of the Leafs top-six, and their future.
Elliotte Friedman reported that there were trades that made sense for a Knies, such as a deal involving former second overall pick Simon Nemec heading back the other way, but that is more towards speculation.
It was Friedman who explained the situation best. The Leafs had been listening on Knies, but they had to really be 'wowed' to do something.
The Leafs were also considering if dealing Knies was beneficial to recoup some necessary assets, but made clear that moving Knies wasn't their plan.
I think there was something to that; they just said if you wanna make us a huge offer that would make us think about Knies, they wanted people to know that, if you're serious...we'd look at it. - Elliotte Friedman (03/06/26)
The rumors spreading as quickly as they did with open space led to connections being made that didn't exist, but the Leafs vision always involved wanting to keep Matthew Knies.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 13|1053 ANSWERS Leafs nation connected two separate stories and created a Matthew Knies trade panic Do you think Matthew Knies should have been traded for Montreal if it netted top prospects and picks back? | ||
| Yes | 317 | 30.1 % |
| No | 736 | 69.9 % |
| List of polls | ||