BREAKING: Leafs officially sign Matthew Knies; next steps already in motion
Less than 24 hours after losing the NCAA Championship in heartbreaking fashion, Matthew Knies has decided to forego another year in college to turn pro and join the Leafs. Knies, who has been touted as the best power forward prospect not in the NHL, was close to joining the Leafs last season, but opted for another year at college to mature and fine tune his game.
After putting up 42 points in 40 games, Knies returned to Minnesota and did not take long to make his decision to join the Leafs. The 6'2, 210-pound power forward has a unique combination of size, skill and skating ability and should add some scoring to the Leafs' bottom six, if that's where Sheldon Keefe elects to play him.
"In two seasons playing for Coach Motzko and his program at the University of Minnesota, Matthew has participated in two Big Ten championship games, Two NCAA Frozen Four Championships, two World Junior Championship tournaments and one Winter Olympic Games. The impact of that experience in addition to the massive steps the program at University of Minnesota has helped him take on and off the ice are something that we are forever grateful for. We look forward to welcoming Matthew to our Club this week and helping him continue down the great development path he has been on with the Gophers." - Kyle Dubas on the signing of NCAA standout and 2021 2nd round pick Matthew Knies
The Leafs had to play cap gymnastics last night and today in order to free up enough space to sign Knies for the remaining 3 games of the regular season and according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox, Wayne Simmonds is not listed on the Leafs' roster this afternoon. Knies is reportedly on his way to Florida to join the Buds as they play the Panthers Monday and Tampa Bay Tuesday.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 9 | 375 ANSWERS BREAKING: Leafs officially sign Matthew Knies; next steps already in motion Where is the best spot on the roster for Knies? | ||
| 1 LW | 55 | 14.7 % |
| 2 LW | 69 | 18.4 % |
| 3 LW | 208 | 55.5 % |
| 4 LW | 43 | 11.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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