Insider Drops Bombshell on Knies’ Surprising Trade Value vs. Matthews

It sounds wild and almost too hot a take to be realistic, but NHL insider Chris Johnston was told that Matthew Knies might have more trade value than Auston Matthews. Both Toronto Maple Leafs forwards would be hot commodities if either hit the trade market, but it sounds like teams (or at least one) is willing to give up more for Knies than Matthews, all things being equal.

What Did the Matthews Knies Comments Really Mean?

Speaking on TSN OverDrive, Johnston noted that a source who works for an NHL team told him that if they were trading right now, they would give up more for Knies.

He explained:

“So, you know, the key thing with Matthews, I think, is that he’s an attractive asset. He’s signed for several years into the future, which is valuable to teams, and they could trade him to any one of the 31 clubs—meaning they could really conduct an auction for him. I actually had someone say to me this week, who works for an NHL team that I won’t name, “If we were trading right now, we would actually give up more for Matthew Knies than we would for Auston Matthews.”

He added:

“He’s [Matthews] only got two years left on his contract, and we don’t know what that’s going to cost. He was just saying the value of knowing, for sure, that you’ve got five or six more years of Knies in his prime, already signed, would probably force him to give up more in that trade than for Matthews.”

Talent vs Contract

Johnston did admit that Knies is unlikely to have the kind of career Matthews has had. Both are great players, but Matthews is on a different level in terms of what he brings as a goal scorer and when it comes to production. He’s the kind of player teams are built around. That doesn’t mean Knies lacks massive appeal. “But when it comes to the value attached to that player, it’s really, really high,” said Johnston.

That goes to show just how much GMs value good players on friendly deals. Knies has cost certainty ($7.75 million) and the kind of contract that a team can leverage when making a move. That he has no say or control in where he goes means the Maple Leafs can talk to everyone and make the best deal, essentially pitting teams against each other. Meanwhile, Matthews controls every part of where he’s traded to, if traded at all.

Only GMs on teams that Matthews has identified as fits can play in the game, and the limited number of suitors gives the buyer more leverage. That’s not the case with Knies.

Johnston noted, “And the discussions I know they had at the deadline—one team put six pieces, I believe, into an offer for Knies. Obviously, it wasn’t good enough to meet what the Leafs needed to pull the trigger, but they got a lot of teams’ attention by being willing to listen on him. Ultimately, they didn’t make that deal.”

That doesn’t mean they won’t make a move. John Chayka and Mats Sundin have a lot of work to do and straightening out the roster and correcting past mistakes is one of them. Knies isn’t a mistake, but sometimes a team has to think bigger picture, moving a player with real value to fill holes in other areas.

“Now it’s a brand-new front office. Maybe some of that just happened before—you can’t rule it out.”