Avoiding a sophomore slump is vital for Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies
With the Maple Leafs having not added much at forward during the off-season, a sophomore slump from Matthew Knies would be devastating for both player and team.
There have been a lot of storylines coming out of the off-season that the Toronto Maple Leafs just completed. There are certainly a few question marks heading into 2024-25 campaign, none more perplexing than their offensive game and how important it is going to be for Knies to not go through the infamous sophomore slump.
There's going to be a lot of pressure on the usual suspects to lead the team offensively. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares will have to spearhead most of it but they can't do it alone, which brings us back to Brad Treliving and company not having addressed their forward depth this summer.
The Leafs extended Max Domi but they let Tyler Bertuzzi walk via free agency without finding a suitable replacement. A reason for that could be because the Leafs want to give players like Knies and Bobby McMann a much larger assignment, but that's a relatively large gamble on two young players with very little experience, especially in a projected top-6 role against tough competition.
There's no denying the skill-level that Knies possesses and almost everyone has him skating alongside Matthews and Marner in 2024-25. There's always pressure to play next to some of the best and most skilled forwards in the league but if it works out, Knies should be in store for a productive season, akin to Michael Bunting's rookie season in 2021-22 when he scored 23 goals and 63 points.
Comparatively, Knies is a lot more skilled and better suited to play alongside Matthews and Marner than perhaps Bunting was, which could bode well for him in 2024-25. At the collegiate level, Knies scored 36 goals and 75 points in 73 games, playing an important role for the University of Minnesota before making the leap to the NHL. In his first taste of the pros, Knies had 1 assist in 3 regular season contests before scoring 1 goals and 4 points in 7 post-season games.
During his rookie campaign in 2023-24, Knies scored 15 goals and 35 points in 80 games and while more might have been expected from him from much of the fan base, he did play in a third-line role at times, where he averaged just 13:41 TOI. Given the gravity of the situation in 2024-25 and the lack of depth on the wings especially, the Leafs will hope that Knies can handle the top-6 opportunity that will assuredly be bestowed upon him.
Should he come out of the gates slowly in 2024-25, perhaps head coach Craig Berube shuffles him around the lineup to find his perfect compliment, similarly to how Sheldon Keefe operated with Tyler Bertuzzi. However, that could mean a return to top-9 minutes, but it's the name of the game now with a head coach that seeks out accountability and doesn't sugar coat anything or walk on egg shells with anyone.
There's also the pressures of a contract season for Knies to consider, and given how some of his counterparts and former collegiate teammates have been paid, Knies should have even more reason to want to burst onto the scene and avoid the sophomore slump.
Based on his track record pre-draft in the USHL, at the collegiate-level in the Big-10, and his brief taste at the NHL-level, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the soon-to-be 22-year-old and if he can prove that he can run with the bulls early on, he will be in store for a massive season in terms of individual success, team success, and a lucrative contract.
Source for Matthew Knies' statistics: Hockey-Reference
Matthew Knies stats and bio
| POLL | ||
AOUT 10 | 903 ANSWERS Avoiding a sophomore slump is vital for Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies How many points does Matthew Knies record in 2024-25? | ||
| 40-49 | 285 | 31.6 % |
| 50-59 | 403 | 44.6 % |
| 60+ | 160 | 17.7 % |
| Less than 40 | 55 | 6.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
