“It could go to $9M… Sign Knies first and see what’s leftover… because he’s going to get offer sheeted.”

[ACC1224]

This sounds more like someone looking for attention than reality.

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Never heard of Jason

 

[ToneDog]

Let's not forget who he is playing with. Similar to Domi last year, he looks like an all star, take him off of the line and he is a mere mortal.

He wouldn't have these number of goals playing with anyone. Just the facts.

What you have to remember is that he is negotiating against a rich Leafs team that overpays for players they are afraid to lose. I'd rather roll the dice and have him negotiate with another team and match.

I doubt there is a GM out there that can offer more than the Leafs. My fear would be there is a GM out there that wants to put it to the Leafs and gives him a ridiculous number, knowing the Leafs panic and likely match. See Kyle Dubas.

 

[arso40]

The money Hes looking for is all but eliminating marner from the roster

 

[ToneDog]

Never heard of Jason

Head scout for the Panthers under Dale Tallon. Interesting that both he and Futa never got NHL jobs and turned to the media.

 

[ToneDog]

The money Hes looking for is all but eliminating marner from the roster

I am not sure we know what he is looking for. These guys are simply speculating based on the fact that he is in the same group as Brady and Tom Wilson who have 25 goals and 150 hits and can fight (see Whitecloud).

 

[arso40]

I am not sure we know what he is looking for. These guys are simply speculating based on the fact that he is in the same group as Brady and Tom Wilson who have 25 goals and 150 hits and can fight (see Whitecloud).

Correct but if there’s any truth to those numbers if they’re even in that ball park it tightens the purse on marner big time you can’t fit that and marner and Tavares without moving more players I just don’t see it working so either his number is lower or marner is gone

 

[Jojalu]

This is all speculation based on the cap going up so much over the next 3 years.

Nowhere does it say Knies is looking for 9 mil, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Salaries are going to jump exponentionally over the next couple of seasons.

Because of the rising cap, it will be important to look at cap% instead of AAV.

 

[Smif]

“If you have time, use it”

Biggest pile of Yarn Cock I've ever heard.

 

[29Potvin]

My guess is he has no intention of leaving or signing an OS as he just signed as the Adidas canadian brand ambassador

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Bukala and Sportsnet are being shit-disturbers as usual. They and TSN will do anything to increase a Leafs AAV in a contract year. The guy is also a former Florida executive, so I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to hamper the Leafs going forward.

Yes Knies has strong numbers, but he’s playing alongside two top 15 players. If he were driving his own line then it’d be a different story.

 

[ToneDog]

This is all speculation based on the cap going up so much over the next 3 years.

Nowhere does it say Knies is looking for 9 mil, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.

Salaries are going to jump exponentionally over the next couple of seasons.

Because of the rising cap, it will be important to look at cap% instead of AAV.

If he is as greedy as another one of our former RFAs, he can threaten the Leafs with multiple offer sheets. If a team like Chicago offers him $9m, it will be tough to match (see Oilers declining to match Blues offers to Holloway and Broberg after signing UFAs), especially if they sign 16 and 91 first.

 

[TMLeafer]

Just wait for the talking heads to use "fair market value" (only used for LEAFS contracts)

 

[TheDoldrums]

Why is it every other team locks these guys up right away and we always wait till the price goes up?

It’s always been this way. This franchise has no foresight or concept of how roles will impact contract demands.

Let’s give Nikita Zaitsev 2 minutes of PP time a game on an explosive offense, pay him too much, while taking him off the PP the very next season.

Why sign Marner early after he was playing with Tyler Bozak as his centre? That’s silly, instead let’s wait until he plays a full season with a prime Tavares! Can’t believe his ask went up.

Hey, maybe it would’ve been a good idea to sign Knies before the year when you knew he’d be stapled to Matthews and Marner. Who could’ve predicted he would put up numbers in that role.

Meanwhile so many franchises seem to have no issue signing their RFAs early and locking them up to AAVs that soon become steals.

 

[ToneDog]

Bukala and Sportsnet are being shit-disturbers as usual. They and TSN will do anything to increase a Leafs AAV in a contract year. The guy is also a former Florida executive, so I’m sure he’d love nothing more than to hamper the Leafs going forward.

Yes Knies has strong numbers, but he’s playing alongside two top 15 players. If he were driving his own line then it’d be a different story.

He's the power forward this team has been looking for since Dubas was given the keys to the candy store. I can't see anybody offering him $9m (that is lunacy) but I can see somebody offering more than what the Leafs are looking to pay him. Either way, Knies' value has increased. A bridge deal might work for both with the cap projected to significantly increase over the next few years.

 

[PROUD PAPA]

Hmmm. He’s my favourite player and I sure would hate to lose him because we finally figured out our cap allocation needs to find a better balance. I would prefer any of our other players be first to deal with the end of the over generosity.
Really hoping we can keep him at a fair price for both team and player. However, despite my appreciation of Knies if he was to be the one to face the initial battle so be it because it’s critical going forward that we move these big contracts from the player friendly scale to the fair to both scale.

 

[Jojalu]

If he is as greedy as another one of our former RFAs, he can threaten the Leafs with multiple offer sheets. If a team like Chicago offers him $9m, it will be tough to match (see Oilers declining to match Blues offers to Holloway and Broberg after signing UFAs), especially if they sign 16 and 91 first.

I have a hard time calling anyone greedy for maximizing a contract.

How many people here are taking a paycut to help out their company?

Yes I fully understand the cap ramifications, and the fact they get paid a lot but the principle is the same. Almost every company has an internal cap and if your boss came to you and asked you to take less so they could hire another person, you would most likely burst out laughing.

Now a second contract after you have made millions I could see. But a young player with no guarantee he ever gets another is hard to judge.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It's not going to be 9 million dollars the mere suggestion of it is stupid.

And nobody is going to offersheet Knies because the Leafs have close to 30 million dollars in cap space it would be pointless.

If you believe that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to allow a 22 year old 25 goal power forward to walk out the door I will sell you every bridge in Japan you can have them ALL.

There are VERY few teams I would consider not matching an offersheet from and those teams aren't going to be stupid enough to make an offersheet because it could cost them Gavin Mckenna.

I'm talking about Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago, SJ, MAYBE Philadelphia and those teams aren't going to risk Gavin Mckenna

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

I have a hard time calling anyone greedy for maximizing a contract.

How many people here are taking a paycut to help out their company?

Yes I fully understand the cap ramifications, and the fact they get paid a lot but the principle is the same. Almost every company has an internal cap and if your boss came to you and asked you to take less so they could hire another person, you would most likely burst out laughing.

Now a second contract after you have made millions I could see. But a young player with no guarantee he ever gets another is hard to judge.

It's 2025, and we still have folks typing crap like this. Simply look at the roster of any good team in the league one time please, thanks.

 

[kevsh]

Very good young talent but he doesn't drive his own line and while he definitely has some skill with the puck and is a big body which coaches love, he really needs to be attached to a high-end setup player like Mitch to get the numbers that a $9M cap hit would justify.

The only thing that makes me hesitant to flat out say "no chance" of him getting pitched that is the fallout of a skyrocketing cap ceiling hasn't been felt yet. Unquestionably salaries are going to rise and fast (first among the stars then soon after the trickle-down economics kick in, the concept of which is pure nonsense in the real world but very much a thing in pro sports).

So an aggressive, forward-thinking GM may believe that $9M today will be more like $7M in a few years? Perhaps.

If it happens though my .02 is the Leafs shouldn't match. Be pissed that they lost a very good young player but shrug it off & collect the draft picks. With Knies at $9M+ the Leafs top 6 could be pushing $60M, furthering digging the team into the so-far very failed philosophy that top-heavy teams can win.

 

[Jojalu]

It's 2025, and we still have folks typing crap like this. Simply look at the roster of any good team in the league one time please, thanks.

Hmm. Interesting.

I said I don't get offended by young players asking for money. Nowhere did I say the Leafs should pay it.

Read into it what you will but stop being an ass

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I love Knies, and it's great seeing a young homegrown talent developing into a fine player as a late 2nd round pick. But $9 million for Knies is absolutely obscene.

 

[fahad203]

I’m taking the 4 1st round picks.

Knies is good, he’s not 2 million dollars less than nylander good

It’s a 3 year bridge, the team or player don’t need to complicate this

Did any player ever got 4 1st round picks? Scott Stevens?

Depends on who is offer sheeting him. Lets say if it's Detroit or Utah, then yes.
But if it's Vegas, no thanks. Those are essentially 2nd round picks

He's goign to get around 8x 8
I am ok with not resigning Tavares

 

[francis246]

Very good young talent but he doesn't drive his own line and while he definitely has some skill with the puck and is a big body which coaches love, he really needs to be attached to a high-end setup player like Mitch to get the numbers that a $9M cap hit would justify.

The only thing that makes me hesitant to flat out say "no chance" of him getting pitched that is the fallout of a skyrocketing cap ceiling hasn't been felt yet. Unquestionably salaries are going to rise and fast (first among the stars then soon after the trickle-down economics kick in, the concept of which is pure nonsense in the real world but very much a thing in pro sports).

So an aggressive, forward-thinking GM may believe that $9M today will be more like $7M in a few years? Perhaps.

If it happens though my .02 is the Leafs shouldn't match. Be pissed that they lost a very good young player but shrug it off & collect the draft picks. With Knies at $9M+ the Leafs top 6 could be pushing $60M, furthering digging the team into the so-far very failed philosophy that top-heavy teams can win.

My thing is, the teams that are going to want Knies aren’t going to be good and he doesn’t seem like someone who is driven by money. He could have turned pro and made money, he went back to college because he really wanted to win the NCAA championship. I just don’t see a team that is competitive that has all their own picks (which is a requirement for an offer sheet) being able to make that type of offer and have Knies seriously consider it.

There’s one team that has the picks to do it and it’s the Carolina Hurricanes

 

[Aashir Mallik]

My thing is, the teams that are going to want Knies aren’t going to be good and he doesn’t seem like someone who is driven by money. He could have turned pro and made money, he went back to college because he really wanted to win the NCAA championship. I just don’t see a team that is competitive that has all their own picks (which is a requirement for an offer sheet) being able to make that type of offer and have Knies seriously consider it.

There’s one team that has the picks to do it and it’s the Carolina Hurricanes

What's crazy is Carolina can't even offersheet him for 9 million, they have to either do under 5 or above 11.5 which they'd be crazy to do either way.

Just looking at that list, ignoring the first tier (no one is offering Matthew Knies more than what nylander makes) who actually is willing to offer knies above 9. Edmonton has bouchard and need to add depth/a goalie. vegas has so many contracts that it would be near impossible to juggle all of that.

Knies isn't going to get LA over Edmonton so that would be dumb for them. The rest are rebuilding teams or in much worse positions than us.

I guess vegas or njd coming in with a 10x5 would be troublesome but who tf would actually offer that much for matthew knies. Sebastian Aho got offersheeted 8.5ish (10.37%) after a PPG season and lead his team in scoring and to the playoffs, where he lead them once again. 10M would give knies a 10.47% cap hit. It's just not possible for someone to commit that much money to him.

Offersheets are best done in the 2nd/3rd round pick range. Look at Broberg and Holloway, that was St louis identifying a cap strapped cup contender that was reluctant to bring youth in and they pounced. Knies isn't in that category.