Matthew Knies was never as close to Montreal as everyone made it sound

Matthew Knies to the Canadiens is a little more complicated with Darren Dreger's report that the trade actually wasn't nearly as close as originally reported.

It was stunning when news broke that Matthew Knies had been traded to the Montreal Canadiens but it didn't go through due to a late submission to the NHL offices. That saved Toronto a lot of heartbreak and stopped their biggest rivals from acquiring one of the best young forwards in the entire league - except Darren Dreger says the polar opposite.

Knies to Montreal would have been a shocker and the supposed return for him included two prospects, and two first-round picks.

It's a huge price to pay but when you have one of the brightest power forwards in the game coming in, it's worth it. But whoever was at fault is moot now, because things didn't go through and Knies is focused on the Maple Leafs for the time being.

Dreger reports the Knies deal was nowhere close to done despite previous reports

Though this is Dreger's personal sources, it does refute the general consensus from the rest of hockey media such as Elliotte Friedman that stated the trade involving Knies was done but sent in too late.

This echoes what the SDPN Podcast was told on deadline day where there was a trade that was meant to happen but was too late; and with this report it sounded like Knies. However for Dreger - that was hogwash:

Yes, there were conversations on Matthew Knies with the Habs, did it ever get close to the finish line? No, it didn't really; Michael Hage would've been a part of that and...it wasn't gonna happen from Montreal's standpoint.

Toronto may have very well been fine with the deal considering that this would have signalled a true rebuild, however it was at a time where they didn't have that first overall pick, and still aiming for the basement. It would have handicapped them...but if Boston had won that pick? You're losing Knies and that - a devastating one-two punch.

Toronto and Montreal rivalry gets a new wrinkle given the Matthew Knies trade news fallout

Knowing that and going based off the other reports, this is what the proposed trade would have been:

To Montreal:

(F) Matthew Knies

To Toronto:

(F) Alexander Zharovsky
(C) Michael Hage
2 First-Round Picks (Year TBA)

That is a really huge payment for Montreal given they lose their top centre prospect and two of their top ones overall. Not to mention the mortgaging of the future with the two firsts. Dreger believed that was too expensive for Montreal and because Hage is too important; it was a no-go.

It's a bit bizarre then that Kent Hughes was adamant that Brad Treliving honour the trade if he saw himself with a job this summer, because if it was too expensive then why would he wanna pull it off? To make sure Treliving was fired?

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Montreal's roster is probably a little peeved knowing they missed out on adding Knies without sacrificing their playoff hopes, and he may have pushed them over the edge into the Finals.

But honestly, it's probably a great sign that the hockey gods realized that this was a bad deal regardless of if it was done, talked about, or even thought about. They always have a plan in mind, and it seems Knies is in Toronto's for the long-term.

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