Matthew Knies surprisingly has found it hard to find consistency with linemates in the top-six despite his best numbers being with Auston Matthews.
Knies has been a brilliant part of the Maple Leafs offence over the last two seasons and after putting up a career-high 66 points in 79 games last season, he's poised to keep building on that. However there is something to keep an eye on as we go forward.
Knies' numbers make a stronger case for keeping him attached to Matthews
If you take a look at Knies' stats within the top-six, you start to see that despite him having the best numbers alongside Auston Matthews, when he's elsewhere in the lineup it's certainly nowhere near as consistent or dominant:
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He only has a GF% of 48.65 alongside William Nylander, a 46.63% rate alongside John Tavares, and a 53.82% alongside Matthews. It's not great when Knies' effectiveness drops to below average alongside two above average to elite scoring threats.
There could be a world though where Jim Hiller could end up sliding him down the lineup and making him the focal point of the bottom-six offence and let him thrive against weaker opponents. For example, this is a top-nine that could do serious damage without Knies in the top-six:
McKenna - Matthews - Roslovic
Cowan - Tavares - Nylander
Joshua - Blueger - Knies
The first line still has your scoring threats with Matthews and Roslovic (not to mention prior familiarity) but McKenna is there to help with a lot of the playmaking. The second line is pretty standard fare and one we saw at times last year, and has an even mix of playmaking, scoring, and defence.
That third line though is certainly intriguing. Knies had to run the offensive side of things with Matthews hurt last year, and he did a swell job and his playmaking improved on top of him already being a physical scoring threat, and he gets scoring help (Joshua) while having a reliable defensive centre (Blueger).
Keeping Knies with Matthews would force Toronto to solve the rest of its top six around them
But if that's the case, then you're looking at Knies as being the centrepiece of that offence, and Jim Hiller's strategy has to utilize a more crash and bang approach.
Knies is massive, as is Joshua and Blueger is no slouch either, so using their size and strength is going to be crucial for them in order to be successful.
That's a lot of pressure on Knies, to help elevate lesser offensive players while also maintaining that level of production that made him such a unique and bright star. It's not that he can't handle the pressure - he's just never really been asked to do so.
It's going to be up to Hiller to decide whether or not Knies fits in the top-six but given his numbers last season, it may be best to let him thrive and see just how dominant he can be against a weaker line.
If he can gain the confidence to run his own line in addition to being the type of player Toronto can expect, then he'll no doubt have cemented himself back in the top-six with a brand new perspective and even more confidence.
Do you think Matthew Knies should stick with Auston Matthews?
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