Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger on the Toronto Maple Leafs getting calls on Matthew Knies
Sportsnet: Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger on TSN Overdrive on all the pre-trade deadline trade rumors on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies, and the Montreal Canadiens speculation.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Bryan Hayes: “After the fact, it became the Leafs and the Habs we’re talking, and maybe Matthew Knies and his name was out there. What is the reality here? What was actually being discussed? Was Matthew Knies and his name out there? What can you tell us?
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Johnston: “Well, 100% the Leafs had discussions involving Matthew Knies’. You know, how close it got, I think is probably been overstated a little bit in some circles. Like, I don’t have the impression that they were, you know, they got right down to the final stages, and, you know, ended up missing on a deal with him.
But you know, let’s look at the reasons why you would trade a Matthew Knies. I mean, he has no protection in his contract. He’s probably the most valuable asset the Leafs have. I’m not saying by any stretch, he’s their best player. But if you got to a point at any stage where they’re trying to trade one of the players with a no-movement clause, they’re not as valuable on the market, because they’re going to dictate where they go. It’s not a true, you know, open process for bidding.
And so, you know, I think, given where the season’s gone, where things are at, it just made sense for the Leafs to listen on Knies. You know, Dregs may know differently, but I have no reason to believe they got close, close to getting anything done there.
But, you know, it’s everything was on the table effectively, and they listened and got a sense of his value, and we’ll see if they pick that up. I don’t even know who’ll be making that call in the summertime, but it could obviously be something that’s revisited down the road.”
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Dregs: “Yeah, I would say this, like every team has a group of players that maybe aren’t untouchable, but they’re very close to being untouchable. But that that doesn’t mean that other general managers, when they can see the direction that the organization is going, you make the call and you ask a what if question.
You know, what if we were to put a real healthy package on the table for Matthew Knies? Would you listen? All right.
And I think that’s exactly what happened, specific to the Montreal Canadiens. And I don’t know this, but I think that the response from the Maple Leafs was, what are we talking about here? Michael Hage, two first-round draft picks, something else? If you put all of those pieces on the table for Matthew Knies, ‘Okay, let’s have a conversation.’ It never got to that point it didn’t.
And there, CJ is, right. There were other teams, not many, but there were other teams. I mean, when, when the Maple Leafs explored, just kicked tires on Robert Thomas of the St Louis Blues? What do you think Doug Armstrong the Blues are expecting as part of something coming back, if you’re getting in that realm, right? And it would have been Knies and something. But Toronto at no point was ever shopping Matthew Knies.
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And I understand gets into a game of semantics, but there is a big difference between putting players in play and having general managers call you and say, ‘What sort of deal would it take for you to entertain that possibility?’ And that was where Knies and Maple Leafs were.
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