Craig Berube Gives Rude Awakening to Leafs Winger Matthew Knies

In mid-November against the Vegas Golden Knights, Knies was on the receiving end of a high-hit from Zach Whitecloud that forced him into concussion protocol.

The former second-round pick would return to the lineup 10 days later, but has not been nearly as dynamic offensively, which led to Craig Berube publicly calling him out following Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.

Knies has skated in fifteen games since returning on November 30th against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but has only managed 3 goals and 7 points.

He hasn't scored in his last 7 games, has just 1 goal in his last 13 games (December 14th vs. Detroit) and his last point (1 assist) came against the Islanders on December 21st.

Without Auston Matthews for the foreseeable future, the Leafs need Knies to get back to the hockey he was playing before his injury to help pick up some of the offensive slack without Matthews.

For what it's worth, Knies' play defensively has improved vastly this season, and because of this, he is getting time on the penalty kill. Unfortunately, he has fallen back into college habits since returning from injury and hasn't always made the safest or smartest plays.

Hopefully, Knies, Berube and the rest of the Leafs' coaching staff will be able to get him back on track over the next couple of days as the team is off until Tuesday.