Knies to meet with Dubas on Wednesday; Sheldon Keefe gives his thoughts on the 19-year-old
The waiting game for news on the Leafs' pursuit of NCAA standout and 2021 2nd round pick Matthew Knies has everyone in Leafs Nation on the edge of their seats. Originally, it was reported that Knies would meet with the Leafs on Sunday or Monday, but we found out on Tuesday morning that that was not the case.
Per TSN's Darren Dreger, we have confirmation that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas plans to meet with Knies (and presumably his agent) on Wednesday to discuss the next step. It's really anyone's guess at this point whether the 19-year-old is chomping at the bit to make the jump to the NHL or if he's planning to head back to the University of Minnesota for another year of NCAA hockey.
The Leafs are obviously very high on Knies and believe that he has all the tools to play in the NHL immediately. If they did not, they would not be rolling out the red carpet the way that they are to try to get him to turn pro right away. Anytime you have the GM, President, team captain and the team's brightest star pitching to a prospect, you're not looking for him to remain in the NCAA.
On Tuesday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe had the opportunity to share his thoughts on Knies. The Leafs' bench boss appears to be just as high on the young power forward as the rest of us.
"He's obviously a player we're excited about. He's had a monster season in college hockey, not just college hockey but World Juniors, Olympics. He's really made his mark. We're very excited about him and having him in the organization.
"Obviously, we're going through a process right now and sorting through what's going to be the next step for him. Our focus remains what's happening here. When the time is right for him, of course we'll welcome him, this season, down the line, whenever that may be. They're going to go through that process."
Sheldon Keefe on Matthew Knies
"Obviously, we're going through a process right now and sorting through what's going to be the next step for him. Our focus remains what's happening here. When the time is right for him, of course we'll welcome him, this season, down the line, whenever that may be. They're going to go through that process."
Sheldon Keefe on Matthew Knies
We don't know yet whether Dubas is meeting with Knies on Wednesday with the intent of signing him on the spot or if the meeting is just a bit of a precursor to Knies making a decision later this week. I'd imagine it's the latter, but if it's the former, it will be interesting to see if it gives the Leafs a leg up on signing Knies' line mate and Golden Gophers captain Ben Meyers to a future deal as well. The Leafs are reportedly very interested in Meyers as well.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 12 | 170 ANSWERS Knies to meet with Dubas on Wednesday; Sheldon Keefe gives his thoughts on the 19-year-old If the Leafs sign Knies this week, does it give them an advantage on trying to sign Ben Meyers as well? | ||
| Yes | 123 | 72.4 % |
| No | 22 | 12.9 % |
| Who? | 25 | 14.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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