Matthew Knies told the Toronto media Friday he's back to 100 percent, and in doing so he explained what the Maple Leafs were actually getting last season.
He dealt with a tendon issue for most of the year. His words now: no issues, it's not going to be a problem.
That's the detail worth sitting with for a second. He played 79 games with that thing hanging on him.
And he still finished with 66 points, 43 of them assists. Not many 23-year-olds manage that at full health.
The contract carries a $7,750,000 cap hit. Toronto is paying him like a core piece, so he has to play like one.
The -30 rating is the part nobody frames and hangs up. Some of that lands on him. Most of it doesn't.
He says he wants to produce, create offence, and be a reliable player. Plain words, and exactly what that dressing room has been missing.
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Matthew Knies declares himself 100 percent healthy after revealing season-long injury
Rielly is listed as questionable for the start of the season with an illness. That's the top of the blue line in doubt already.
Max Domi is expected out until at least November 7 with a back issue. Two holes before a single meaningful shift gets played.
The Maple Leafs finished 32-36-14 and landed 28th overall. Nobody around that building is calling last year a fluke yet.
They allowed 299 goals. Until that total comes down, everything else is decoration.
They dropped seven in a row to close the season and went 2-7-1 across their final 10 games.
The last one was a 1-3 loss in Ottawa. Not a sentence anybody in that market wanted printed.
William Nylander piled up 49 assists in just 65 games. Scoring at the top was never the problem here.
John Tavares played all 82 and buried 12 of his goals on the power play at 35 years old.
Jim Hiller took the bench job on June 17. His first camp opens with one healthy answer and a stack of unanswered questions.
So does one healthy winger flip a season? Repairing that roster with a single returning body works like patching a canoe with one strip of tape.
The good news is real and it's also small. Toronto needs four more sentences like the one Knies gave Friday, and right now nobody else is saying them.
Can Matthew Knies hit 80 points now that he's healthy in Toronto?
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