Matthew Knies will be a Maple Leafs uniform soon
TSN: Depending on how far Matthew Knies and the University of Minnesota go (starting tonight), he could be signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs soon, according to Chris Johnston.
“The expectation remains that he is going to sign with the Leafs once that NCAA season is done. That’s going to burn the first year of the contract right away and I don’t think it’ll be long after that point before we see him in a Maple Leafs uniform.”
NHL Rumors: Defenseman Nikita Tryamkin will be looking to return to the NHL next season
Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets: The Maple Leafs left enough salary cap space after the trade deadline to sign Matthew Knies to an entry-level contract after his NCAA season was done. The University of Minnesota are the top ranked team heading into the NCAA tournament.
How would he fare jumping into one of the top NHL lineups?
“I think you can try to project and guess, but I mean a guy coming out of college I don’t think you ever truly know,” Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said last week, before adding: “Or junior (hockey). Or Europe.”
Dubas added.
“Physically he’s got some great tools and they’ve done a great job with him at the University of Minnesota,” Dubas said. “In terms of projecting what he’s going to be exactly as he turns pro I think is always a really hard thing. You can give your best guess, but there’s always going to be ups and downs, too, in terms of how it’s going to actually go.”
NHL Rumors: Montreal Canadiens, Goaltending, Rasmus Sandin, and John Gibson
The Maple Leafs eyed K’Andre Miller in the 2018 NHL draft
Jack Han in his Hockey Tactics Newsletter: (an article on ‘Fundamentals for Undersized Defenseman’ and using ex-Toronto Maple Leafs Rasmus Sandin as an example) Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas would have selected defenseman K’Andre Miller in the first-round of the 2018 NHL draft if he fallen to them but the New York Rangers selected him before the Maple Leafs picked.
(The Rangers picked Miller at # 22, and the Maple Leafs selected Sandin at # 29. Of note, four defenseman were selected after Miller and before Sandin – Filip Johansson, Jacob Bernard-Docker, Nicolas Beaudin, and Nils Lundkvist.)