Matthew Knies sees the Maple Leafs from the other bench for the first time tonight, and he's promising the chirps will be ready.
The Blue Jackets winger told the Off The Roster podcast he has plenty of material on his former teammates. Three years in one room will do that.
“When you spend three years with some guys, it's pretty easy to come up with some material,” Knies said.
The softer part of the interview landed harder. Morgan Rielly made the first call after the move, with John Tavares and Auston Matthews right behind him.
“It was sad saying goodbye because of how close you get over three years,” the 24-year-old said.
Puck drop is 7 p.m. in Columbus. Toronto shows up on the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Sharks 3-1 last night.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 in that one. Does Jim Hiller go right back to him, or turn to Anthony Stolarz and his .875 save percentage?
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Knies brings a five-game point drought into the reunion
Here's the awkward part about talking a big game. Knies hasn't registered a point over his last five games, going minus-1 in that stretch.
His season line reads two goals and two assists through seven games. One of those goals came on the power play, and one stood up as the winner.
Bluntly, that's not enough for a $7,750,000 cap hit. Columbus didn't pay that kind of money for the funniest guy in the group chat.
And the Blue Jackets can't carry a passenger right now. They're 3-4-0, sitting 28th overall and last in the Metropolitan Division.
Home has been the only comfort, a 3-2-0 mark. They're coming off a 2-1 loss in Minnesota on Sunday.
Rick Bowness isn't getting much from his highest-paid forward either. Adam Fantilli has three points while carrying a $13,750,000 cap hit.
The matchup on the other side isn't kind. Matthews has 10 points over his last five games, three of them last night against San Jose.
Rielly is a different story. The defenseman who made that first call has no goals and a -6 rating through 10 games.
It's the hockey version of running into your old roommates at a wedding. The hugs are real, and so are the jabs about who never cleaned the kitchen.
Tavares won't be part of the reunion tonight. He's on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 27.
Toronto sits 4-4-2 and just 1-1-1 on the road. Dropping one in Columbus would sting a lot more than any line Knies saves up.
This is the first of three meetings this season. If the scoresheet stays blank, his old teammates will have the better material when the two clubs meet again on Nov. 21.
Should Matthew Knies be chirping the Leafs while he's gone five straight games without a point?
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