Matthew Knies sends warning shot at the Leafs ahead of first matchup since trade

Matthew Knies has a lot of ammunition heading into Columbus' game vs. Toronto on Tuesday and won't be afraid to let his old teammates hear it all night.

The day before the Maple Leafs started their 2026-27 season the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets came together to make a blockbuster trade that sent Matthew Knies, Emil Andrae and Steven Lorentz for a package that included Kirill Marchenko, Miles Wood, and Elvis Merzlikins.

The main focus though was Knies and Marchenko, and while the former hasn't had as hot of a start as the latter, there's still a lot of time for Knies to get accustomed to his new team, though they would probably like him to start scoring.

He's certainly going to have a chip on his shoulder on Tuesday night as Toronto heads into Columbus to play their first game against the team since trading Knies.

Matthew Knies is ready to chirp away at the Maple Leafs all night

All eyes will be on Marchenko and Knies for the majority of the night and it will be interesting to see the reaction that both men are going to get - especially Marchenko given his disgruntled nature to start the year.

But Knies is also going to hope that his old teammates have their ears open all night too because he has a lot of ammo to try and throw them off their game. The former Leaf admitted that he's going to have a boatload of chirps ready to fire away at his old buddies:

There's honestly a lot of them (to chirp). When you spend three years with some guys, it's pretty easy to come up with some material.

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You have to wonder if Knies is going to target William Nylander's new baby-faced look, or maybe has a comment or two for Morgan Rielly - especially if he beats him for a goal.

Knies doesn't hold grudges against Toronto, at least not his teammates

But perhaps the Maple Leafs are the team getting the last laugh right now, as Marchenko currently sits third on the team in scoring and has 10 points in 10 games which already includes a hat trick.

Knies on the other hand hasn't scored over his last five games and if you were to ask today who won the trade right now? Toronto for sure.

Though you have to think that Knies has a bit of resentment towards the Maple Leafs for the way they treated him. First, he was untouchable and someone that John Chayka said was a key part going forward, but a slow preseason for Knies and the chance to add Marchenko was too much to pass up.

You can definitely argue it's just business, but Knies was someone who was part of the wider Toronto community and he loved the city through and through. He's also human, he's going to have emotions and feelings towards how things changed so quickly.

But if there's one thing that Knies doesn't have is any issues with his teammates despite wanting to give them an earful on Tuesday, and he made sure they knew that ahead of their anticipated clash:

Almost all of them called to say their goodbyes, wish me well and say we'd keep in touch. My first call was Morgan Rielly. I spent three years with him, and he was one of the veteran players who helped me when I was a young player

Johnny T, Auston and all those guys called right after. It was sad saying goodbye because of how close you get over three years.

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