Will the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens revisit the Matthew Knies trade talks this offseason?
The Chris Johnston Show: Chris Johnston and Julian McKenzie to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Matthew Knies in a trade to the Montreal Canadiens, and if negotiations will be renewed under the new management of the Leafs.
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McKenzie: “But what do you think about the story of Matthew Knies that came out a few days ago, where it seemed that there was a handiwork involving him that could send him to the Montreal Canadiens, but maybe some time interfered with that.
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Johnston: “I mean, I’ve heard, look, when a trade doesn’t happen, it can be a tricky little business, because everybody involved in those negotiations might look at things differently. But obviously, we know, I don’t think it’s a secret that the Canadiens and the Leafs had serious discussions about Matthew Knies at the deadline.
You know, what’s interesting is, I’m not sure with the change in management that this is a player that’s going to be available again. You know, he’s still on the board of trade because, you know, I don’t think we can completely eliminate it. But it doesn’t seem to me, the indications I’ve heard are none that the Leafs are in a rush to move Matthew Knies.
I think you know at that point in time, remember, at least by trying to restore their cabinets. They were then in early March of 2026, apparently going to miss the playoffs. They didn’t own their first round pick in 2026 unless it fell in the top five, which, lo and behold, it did, thanks to winning the draft lottery. They didn’t have their 2027 pick, and now they don’t have 2027 and 2028 going into the starters. So they were really trying to find ways to see if they could improve themselves in this way.
And so, what can I do about it? Inevitably, there were discussions there. There are, some of the people who were part of those conversations disagree with maybe some of the characters. I think, mostly, reporting that, it’s in terms of accuracy in terms of the words that were discussed, and you know how it all went down.
But you know what, it’s going to be one of those interesting what ifs. I mean, maybe a little like years ago, the Leafs and Blackhawks had a failed trade that would have brought Marc-Andre Fleury and Brandon Hagel to Toronto at the time. I believe Knies may have been there, I believe Knies may have had a hand in that. I remember my colleague at TSM, Darren Dreger, reported that.
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A little bit of the same vibe here, in the sense that I made that deal time may have passed, if you know what I’m saying. Like, I don’t know, how big the change has been, the Leafs front office. I’m not sure we’ll see that, if that one is renewed in any way, shape, or form, but we’ll have to see how things go.”
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