Maple Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Offers Matthew Knies One Heck of a Compliment
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube appears to have been very impressed with Matthew Knies' game, offering the sophomore winger one heck of a compliment after a standout performance against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
The Maple Leafs have turned misfortune into good fortune on the back of their body of work over the last week, putting a 3-game losing streak in their rearview mirror and stringing together 3-straight wins against the likes of New Jersey, Montreal and Tampa Bay.
Over the course of that stretch, the Leafs' top dogs, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander have really carried the load in the absence of John Tavares, who was injured in practice last week and remains on injured reserve.
A brief look at their production during the 3-game winning streak shows that the big dogs are getting it done.
Knies is right behind them with 2 goals, 2 assists, a +2 rating, and 7 shots on goal (though, as the net front guy, he's not getting nearly as many shooting opportunities).
It's easy to look at Marner and Matthews as the stars of their line, especially with Matthews recently surging in the goals department, with 8 goals in 9 games since the calendar flipped to 2025.
Following last night's game, Craig Berube touched on Matthews' play since returning from injury, but quickly made it all about Matthew Knies, referring to him as a driver on that top line. That's certainly a huge compliment from Berube.
Kniesy, for me, has been driving. He is really playing that power-forward type of game to a tee, in my opinion. It really helps the line."
Berube believes that Knies' game has grown a lot this season. His 18 goals and 31 points have him well on his way to career high numbers across the board. Here's what Berube had to say about what has made Knies so successful this season.
He forechecks, gets loose pucks, and goes directly to the net. He gets all of his goals from around the net, for the most part.
He understands that Mitch and Auston will do their thing with the puck, and the D are going to shoot, so he is at the net front all of the time. It is the same on the power play."
The 2nd-year pro has really found his game at the right time for the Maple Leafs, and the scary thing for the opposition -- he's only getting better. His 2 goals and 1 assist last night paced the team in their victory over Tampa, and Knies was rightfully awarded the player of the game belt following the win.
Former Maple Leaf and Hall-of-Famer Eric Lindros recently sung the praises of Matthew Knies, stating that, "there's no end to how good he can get." That's one heck of a rub from a player like Lindros, who was so dominant in his era back in the 90's.
Upon Craig Berube's arrival in Toronto, it was already a forgone conclusion that Knies would receive plenty of opportunity this year, being a clear-cut Berube-type of player. However, what he's done through his 46 games this season is probably beyond what anyone was expecting from the former college star.
