Report: Matthew Knies On The Verge Of A Shocking Setback

The Toronto Maple Leafs are starting to make the final moves to get themselves ready for the NHL season. This includes getting the roster down to the correct size. Unfortunately for Matthew Knies, this could mean he suffers a setback to help the team out.

Knies heading to the AHL obviously is not ideal for any of the parties involved. However, it may be a necessary sacrifice for the Maple Leafs to have the team they want. As said by Nick Richard this would mostly be a paper transaction. It would allow them to put Conor Timmins on LTIR clearing out his cap space.

Once his cap space is cleared Knies would be able to come back up. The reason that Knies needs to be the one sent down is he is the only one that the Maple Leafs can send down without consequence. Basically, every other player would need to go through waivers at this point. The only other player is Fraser Minten but once he is returned to juniors he is not allowed back. This means it has to be Knies.

While this is only a paper transaction it could be used as motivation for Knies. Players all the time use small things like being sent down for a short time as motivation to continue improving.

Knies is coming off a fantastic year where he was a Hobey Baker Finalist at the University of Minnesota. Then he got his first NHL point in 3 regular season appearances. Finally, he was a standout for the Maple Leafs in 7 playoff games tallying 4 points.

Knies will look to make a massive impact on the Maple Leafs this upcoming season. His cheap contract could become a massive weapon to utilize if he can be relied on to play big minutes. If he can handle big minutes and be a key contributor the looming William Nylander free agency becomes less frightening.

As the season begins Matthew Knies and his adjustment to a full-time NHL schedule will be interesting to watch.