The Maple Leafs may not believe in Matthew Knies as much as everyone else does

Toronto is a believer in Matthew Knies for now, but Nick Kypreos thinks that his trade talk won't die down with the team preferring to deal him over Easton Cowan.

Unless you completely ignored social media for the last couple of months, you'd have no doubt heard the trade discussions surrounding Matthew Knies. First there was a supposed deal with Montreal that was debunked, then we heard Buffalo and Chicago were in play especially with the 2026 4th overall pick being swapped around.

But at the end of the day, the team never found a deal; not even a Zach Werenski one.

So it looks like Knies is not only going to be sticking around but is expected to be a strong presence in the lineup and bring that unique set of skills to help give the Maple Leafs a stronger chance at making the postseason again.

Kypreos says the Knies trade chatter isn't going to go away

Though, that may not be set in stone if you were to ask Maple Leafs analyst Nick Kypreos.

Speaking on the Real Kyper and Bourne Show on July 1, Kypreos was still under the impression that Toronto isn't 100% sold on Knies and they could look to circle back to trade talks - with a preference to keep Easton Cowan too:

I think...they'd rather move Matthew Knies than even Easton Cowan; the feeling I'm getting is, [trade talk] won't go away with Knies; I get the sense they don't feel his upside is...as high as the perception...out there.

That's a little wild to think given how much money has been invested in Knies and he's only 23 and not even close to his prime, but the team also highly values Cowan as a piece of the future and he's only 20. Both are extremely good players, but Knies does have a bit of a bigger value given his ability to help now and we don't yet know Cowan's true potential.

It's not the sentiment Toronto shared two weeks ago however

It's interesting though if the team doesn't think Knies can be better than he was last year, and the potential upside that we have heard about (30+ goals, 85+ points, 175 hits) is possibly out of reach and his output last season was something we'd see more of.

Don't forget, Mitch Marner was playing alongside him and had 16 assists; so he does need a facilitator whereas Cowan is the facilitator.

The team's Assistant GM Ryan Hardy actually came out and tried to put fans' anxiety to rest when he mentioned that while they're always talking with players and their agents, anything beyond that is purely speculative.

It sounds like Knies is going to be a key part of the core so long as a deal doesn't arise in the future. If a Werenski trade pops up again, or there's other premium players available that would improve the lineup for a postseason push - they very well could pull the trigger this time.

Knies isn't a bad player, and it's hard to find guys who are that big, that fast, that strong, but also have the silky smooth hands of someone much smaller and lighter. But it's also hard to find a #1 defenceman who can turn your entire franchise on its head.

Which is why Kypreos doesn't want to believe Knies is fully set in the Maple Leafs' plans and knowing how badly John Chayka wants to win, we may be inclined to join him in that belief.

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