This new Matthew Knies development could be a nightmare for the Maple Leafs

The Matthew Knies trade talk did not begin and end with Montreal. According to TSN insider Darren Dreger, the Toronto Maple Leafs had bigger deals in play before the deadline.

Dreger said Tuesday that his information is that it was not just the Canadiens involved, that the Leafs were fielding larger offers.

That is a significant detail. It means Knies was actively available. Not quietly mentioned in a rumor, not floated casually. On the market.

Darren Dreger: Re Maple Leafs/Canadiens Knies blockbuster: My information is that it wasn't just Montreal, that [the Maple Leafs] had bigger deals...in play.

Toronto finished 32-36-14, ranked 28th in the league. A -46 goal differential. A seven-game losing streak to close the season.

That is the context around this. A team in freefall trying to move one of its most capable young forwards.

Knies posted 23 goals and 43 assists for 66 points in 79 games this season. At 23 years old, carrying a $7.75 million cap hit, he is exactly the kind of asset that contenders want.

But he went minus-30 on that Leafs roster. That number says more about the team than it does about the player.

Knies deal talks reveal how deep Toronto's rebuild question runs

The fact that the Leafs were in those conversations at all tells you something about where this organization sees itself. You do not shop your 23-year-old top-six winger unless you have decided the current core is not working.

His last five games of the regular season? Held scoreless, with just 2 assists and a -8 rating. The whole team was sinking.

And Montreal was apparently just one call. There were others. Dreger's phrasing, "bigger deals," suggests the asking price was real and the offers got serious.

-

Kent Hughes in Montreal presumably wanted a piece of this. The Canadiens went 48-24-10 this season, 27 goals to the good, built on exactly the kind of young talent that makes a Knies fit compelling.

Whether this resurfaces this summer is the real question. Knies is signed. He is young. And Toronto clearly considered moving him once already.

The Leafs did not pull the trigger before the deadline. That does not mean the phone has stopped ringing.

Also read on Markerzone.com:
John Tortorella announces departure as Golden Knights' head coach in the middle of the Stanley Cup final