Maple Leafs weighing Matthew Knies trade to land Canadiens defenseman

The Maple Leafs wanted David Reinbacher in the Matthew Knies trade with Montreal, but the Canadiens held firm and the Austrian defender stayed put.

That detail emerged Wednesday from David Pagnotta via Hello Hockey, cited by NHLRumourReport. The Leafs pushed for Reinbacher. They did not get him.

Think about what that tells you. Toronto, coming off a 32-36-14 season ranked 28th overall, finished a seven-game losing streak and shipped out a 23-year-old winger with a $7.75 million cap hit.

And in return, they were angling for a 21-year-old blue-line prospect who played exactly 2 regular-season games for Montreal this year.

Kent Hughes just looked at that ask and said no.

That refusal matters more than the trade itself. It tells you how the Canadiens front office values Reinbacher, and it tells you they are not going to give away pieces of the rebuild to patch up someone else's mess.

What Kent Hughes protecting Reinbacher says about Montreal's blueprint

Reinbacher carries a $918,333 cap number and posted 1 point in 2 games this season. On paper, that is a marginal player.

But Martin St-Louis and Hughes are clearly not treating him that way. You don't refuse to include a guy in a blockbuster deal if you're not protecting him for a reason.

The Canadiens finished 48-24-10 with 106 points and went 3-1 against Toronto this season. They are building something that actually works.

Meanwhile, Knies went minus-30 on the year in 79 games, logged 23 goals and 43 assists, and went minus-8 over his last five games alone.

That is a lot of cap money for a team shipping players out, not adding them.

The Leafs asking for Reinbacher alongside a core forward is the kind of move you make when you know what you're missing on the back end. Whether they actually solve that problem with what they received is a different question entirely.

What we know right now is Montreal drew a line, and Toronto could not cross it.

-

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