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Maple Leafs have a problem with trading Matthew Knies originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been rumored to potentially trade away Matthew Knies.
It was an idea before the trade deadline, and although it didn't happen then, the speculation has begun again heading into the offseason.
On the one hand, Knies is a talented and still-young player who would fetch great return value.
On the other hand, trading Knies feels a bit like taking a step backward.
ESPN's Ray Ferraro recently joined the Leafs Morning Take show and expressed that he personally doesn't think trading Knies would be a good idea.
“He’s [Knies], is a really good player, and would be highly sought after," Ferraro said. "If you trade Knies, you are clearly going backwards, and if you go backwards, what does that mean to Matthews and William Nylander. You risk setting off a domino that might change the entire landscape of the organization.”
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That's smart intel, really.
A lot of the narrative about Matthews this offseason has been that he simply wants the Maple Leafs to make an effort to improve the roster.
Trading Knies would feel like downgrading the roster, given that it would likely involve acquiring future assets, rather than things that can help in the present.
Knies is likely still improving. He seems like the type of player a team would want to build around.
The Leafs should certainly avoid trading him just to trade him. If there's value to be had, great. But there's also plenty of value in simply having Knies on their team still.
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