Brady Tkachuk's stunning trade on Sunday sets the bar for a Matthew Knies deal and shows the Maple Leafs could find themselves with a litany of prime assets.
Tkachuk was dealt to the Florida Panthers on Sunday for a package involving four draft picks which includes the 9th and 25th overall picks in the 2026 NHL Draft including a first rounder in 2029 and a second-rounder in 2030. It's a huge haul for the Senators and while it hurts their competitiveness, it does kickstart a major retool.
It no doubt makes the Panthers the deadliest team in the East yet again, and with a revamped and healthy roster, it looks like once again they are one of the favourites to win the Stanley Cup.
The Panthers gave away their future for Brady Tkachuk and could set the bar for Matthew Knies leaving Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team who were trying to get ahead of the Panthers and made a great move by acquiring Darren Raddysh from the Tampa Bay Lightning in order to boost their offence on the blueline. However, the addition of Tkachuk sends thumbtack to the drawing board and seeing what big moves they can pull off.
Well from the looks of it, if the team wants to make a big splash they could certainly do so and if we look at what Tkachuk got back - we get an idea of what a potential Matthew Knies package could end up costing.
Tkachuk and Knies are very similar players in the sense that both are big-bodied power forwards who can score aplenty, hit like a freight train and provide a bunch of toughness and grit to the lineup.
Knies is a bit younger than Tkachuk but that should only drive his price up. If Tkachuk on a fairly expensive deal without a long-term commitment gets you a top-10 pick, a top-25 pick, and two more prime draft assets then Knies should get you that plus.
That haul reshapes the Maple Leafs can demand from Knies - but someone will pay up
Toronto may be able to snag a top defender if they elect to forgo one of the picks for a player instead, and with John Chayka wanting to move up in the draft, then he'll no doubt be aiming for a top-10 pick himself which could include a trade to Chicago or the Rangers (who won the 4th and 5th pick respectively).
It would be insane to see Toronto come away with three or four premium draft picks on top of a player that can change their lineup and even then, they can use those to make other deals to get the players they want now.
Knies shouldn't be traded, but Chayka seeing a king's ransom of capital may be hard to ignore.
Though as we learned previously, some teams may be willing to part with five or six pieces in order to acquire Knies, and if those include prime draft picks this year, a top-pairing defender, and perhaps a new 2C then it'll hard not to say yes. That's a lot of holes filled with one player, and teams are gambling that there's more to Knies than we've seen.
Tkachuk forced his hand, so the Senators were more than willing to take what they could get and frankly; it was pretty good. But the Maple Leafs have a leg up with Knies' age, contract and potential.
If Tkachuk got four picks for the Senators, who knows what Knies can fetch for the Maple Leafs but you can bet it'll be an absolute haul.
Do you think Matthew Knies can get more in a trade than Brady Tkachuk?
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Jake McCabe is getting lots of trade calls but there is only one package worth taking