Craig Berube Shares Surprising Update on Leafs Winger Matthew Knies

Midway through the second period last night, Knies was carrying the puck through the neutral zone when Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud stepped up and caught Knies with a questionably high and dangerous hit.

The hit clearly put Knies in discomfort as he took a second to get back to his feet before steadying himself on the boards, making his way to the Leafs' bench and down the tunnel.

Post-game, Craig Berube noted that Knies was to be re-evaluated on Thursday, while biting his tongue to avoid a fine from the NHL for criticizing officials, who deemed the hit a clean one, despite the obvious head contact.

The Leafs chose to skip practice on Thursday, settling instead for a skills session, but Berube met with the media anyway and was able to elaborate further on Knies' status.

The fact that Knies was feeling okay is a good sign and likely means that holding him out of the rest of Wednesday's game the right thing to do, even if just for precautionary reasons.

As the Leafs don't play until Sunday, the status of the former second-round pick won't likely be known until the weekend.

If the Leafs are without the 22-year-old, it would be another big loss up front as the club is already without Auston Matthews, David Kampf, Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Reaves.

Through 20 games in his sophomore season, Knies had been a force to be reckoned with, scoring 8 times already and adding 4 assists, while taking on more defensive responsibility on the penalty kill.