Rumblings Surface About a Potential Matthew Knies Offer Sheet This Summer
With the Maple Leafs needing to figure out a Matthew Knies deal soon, NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette believes the star forward may be in line for an expensive offer.
With the discussion around Mitch Marner and John Tavares' next contract dominating the headlines, there still remains one very important player who needs a new deal: Matthew Knies.
A restricted free agent at season's end, he's emerging as one of the league's brightest and most unique stars, and with his skillset and potential to be elite; a deal needs to get done or risk losing him in the summer to a very expensive offer sheet.
It's the topic of offer sheets that brought about the debate between Spittin' Chiclets co-hosts Ryan Whitney and Paul Bissonnette.
Matthew Knies Will Be Offered Mega Deal
Speaking on their recent episode, the topic of Knies' deal came about and both speculated about what the future could hold for the young power forward.
Bissonnette stated:
There are only three players in the NHL with 25 goals and over 150 hits, and I believe it's Tom Wilson, Brady Tkachuk, and now Matthew Knies.
I think they have a unicorn in him. He's the type of player that makes me miss Hyman less. Like, we didn't have a good net-front guy.
We didn't have a puck hound on the forecheck and a guy who is relentlessly working. I think the sky's the limit-he's a dog, and he's the type of guy you need to win. So fired up about having this guy, and he's probably gonna get, like, eight times nine.
I think they have a unicorn in him. He's the type of player that makes me miss Hyman less. Like, we didn't have a good net-front guy.
We didn't have a puck hound on the forecheck and a guy who is relentlessly working. I think the sky's the limit-he's a dog, and he's the type of guy you need to win. So fired up about having this guy, and he's probably gonna get, like, eight times nine.
Whitney brought up the offer sheet scenario and believes that while there is most likely a lot of expensive offers, Toronto will match; but the cap makes it a bit harder:
I think he's gonna get offer-sheeted. Like how you saw Broberg and Holloway.
Like, you give the offer sheets, and I'm assuming Toronto would match, but he's just so good. And with the cap going up, I think maybe offer sheets will become a much bigger thing, a much more popular thing.
How else are you gonna get studs? You can't get them anymore.
Like, you give the offer sheets, and I'm assuming Toronto would match, but he's just so good. And with the cap going up, I think maybe offer sheets will become a much bigger thing, a much more popular thing.
How else are you gonna get studs? You can't get them anymore.
While it's a bit crazy to think that Knies will get an eight-year, $72M deal, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
An increased cap that's expected to get upwards of $113.5M in the next few seasons means that Knies' $9M deal will actually end up being more or less a 6.5M cap hit when that time rolls around.
When it does, Knies will be just getting into his prime, and to have a player the caliber of Knies, at only 25 for less money than they're presumably going to sign a 34-year old John Tavares to this summer; it's a massive steal.
While he enjoyed a breakout season last year, it's 2024-25 where Knies has really shone.
In 70 games he has 49 points (25G, 24A), 39 PIM and 173 hits in 18:35 TOI; nearly a five minute increase from 2023-24.
Plus, the fact he's already being compared to such high-level names so young in his career gives a lot of hope to a Maple Leafs team unsure about what the heck is going on with Mitch Marner.
So it's not going to be surprising to see a bunch of teams try and throw a Brinks Truck at Knies this summer, and Toronto will be hard pressed to match an extravagant offer.
But with the special player Knies is, they can't afford to let him go at any cost and find themselves in a much worse spot come 2025-26.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 1 | 605 ANSWERS Rumblings Surface About a Potential Matthew Knies Offer Sheet This Summer How much will Matthew Knies sign for per season? | ||
| $5M | 121 | 20 % |
| $6M | 219 | 36.2 % |
| $7M | 186 | 30.7 % |
| $8M | 79 | 13.1 % |
| List of polls | ||