Considering the turn around and having no practice with a new team/system, he was impressive last night. One pretty bad mistake on a cute no look one touch pass to exit his zone that resulted in a breakaway chance, otherwise he showed good energy and pace, worked well down low, and had a few quick and creative passes in transition/OZ. Pretty projectable player that should easily find a role as a middle 6 guy in the league, in my opinion. The physical traits with the skill and energy are more then enough to earn him a bottom 6 role with the Leafs this year/next year.
LW Matthew Knies - Tri-City Storm, USHL (2021, 57th, TOR)
- Thread starter Pavel Buchnevich
- Start date
The Norris Division
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TheBeastCoast
Registered User
If there is anything a Buffalo fan would know about it is a rebuild.
The Norris Division
Registered User
Well, kuddos to Buffalo… they will be a prennial playoff team after this season… i really like their roster construction and the young players will improve. Too bad new jersey is also in the East. They will soon be the team to beat…
Bruins, Pens and Tampas window is closing soon. The rangers will lose players in free agency and the leafs will see a shakeup after another playoff failure…
Bruins, Pens and Tampas window is closing soon. The rangers will lose players in free agency and the leafs will see a shakeup after another playoff failure…
- Aug 16, 2015
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Vesey was 2 years older when he signed. Knies numbers were much better in his first two NCAA years compared to Vesey who popped off in year 3+4 of his NCAA career.
You just clicked on his prospect thread to say this?
Oilers fan sick of media always talking about the Leafs has tweeted about the Leafs 6 times today
EDMONTON - Leonard Bagan, a die-hard Edmonton Oilers fan, says he is sick and tired of Canada's sports media always covering the Toronto Maple Leafs, a team he has devoted his life to talking about ad nauseam across all social media channels.
www.thebeaverton.com
replace oilers with whatever team youre a fan of ^
TheBeastCoast
Registered User
Do you walk into closed doors and get mad at the door too? If you don't want to talk about Knies maybe don't go into the thread for him?
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Lavar Ball
Neva Lost
SI90
Registered User
ROR might have stole his first goal lol. ROR had no choice there though. Right play
1 Assist, 3 SOG, +1 12:25 TOI
Certainly would’ve played more if the refs didn’t have $ on Tampa tonight gifting them a staggering 8 powerplays.
Great game from him against another good team in a physical playoff-like atmosphere. Made some plays and had a few nice takeaways that were Matthews-esque. Looked like there was some instant chemistry between him, O’Reilly, and Nylander.
One thing he has to clean up are the d-zone breakouts. Looked indecisive, held the puck too long, and what should’ve been clean exits ended up turning into puck battles. Could be attributed to him not being here for a single practice yet. But overall great stuff!
Certainly would’ve played more if the refs didn’t have $ on Tampa tonight gifting them a staggering 8 powerplays.
Great game from him against another good team in a physical playoff-like atmosphere. Made some plays and had a few nice takeaways that were Matthews-esque. Looked like there was some instant chemistry between him, O’Reilly, and Nylander.
One thing he has to clean up are the d-zone breakouts. Looked indecisive, held the puck too long, and what should’ve been clean exits ended up turning into puck battles. Could be attributed to him not being here for a single practice yet. But overall great stuff!
Peasy
Registered User
He's definitely getting his time next season that's for sure.
See how next game goes and how the playoffs shake out, but I look forward to him being a regular next year.
See how next game goes and how the playoffs shake out, but I look forward to him being a regular next year.
Namikaze Minato
Registered User
Anyone who knows anything about professional sports knows that Buffalo sports are cursed. over 50 years in both leagues and never won a Super Bowl or Cup. Hell, the curse even carries over to the Los Angeles Clippers (old Buffalo Braves).
- Apr 27, 2005
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He's much better than Vesey
- Apr 27, 2005
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On his D zone breakouts, I think he's kind of used to the space Cooley would create for him with his speed through the neutral zone. He'll need to get used to making quicker plays there.
Do you realize how hard it would be for him not to achieve that? He'd basically need to get hurt and never play again.
What you are suggesting would be like if you put a bar on the floor and then asked an Olympic pole vaulter if they could clear the bar you just laid on the floor.
That's how low that bar is.
If he sticks in the top 6, that means he took it away from somebody, if he can take it away from somebody I'm alll for it, in fact I'd prefer it.
But he has to take it away from somebody.
Tufted Titmouse
13 Cups.
- Apr 5, 2022
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What a breath of fresh air. Big body who seeks out physical contact and puck battles, but with enough skill to keep him on a line with talented players.
Wasn't sure how his game would translate but the floor seems to be quite high.
Looks like a natural fit with Tavares, ROR and AM.
Wasn't sure how his game would translate but the floor seems to be quite high.
Looks like a natural fit with Tavares, ROR and AM.
NitroF
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- Feb 6, 2006
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Sure.
But he doesn’t have to be a better player than the one he takes the spot from, just a better fit. Might even be that the other player makes a better trio with some of his bottom 6 teammates or is more defensively sound and better equipped for bottom 6 duty and D-Zone deployment.
Isaac Nootin
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- Sep 28, 2017
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Well put. That's the only issue I see in his game so far through the limited NHL sample size. He won't have the time and space he's use to just a week ago.
I don't think it'll take him long to adjust, but are the NHL playoffs the time to learn? Especially considering the level of play is upped even more and there's even less time and space to make plays in your end.
From the offensive blue line and in, his game comes as advertised.
I had the same thought. Cooley was masterful at picking up speed on the breakout to create 2-1s but that’s going to happen as much at this level
- Apr 27, 2005
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Your notion of a top 6 doesn't mean all that much if the coach has the depth to roll the top 3 lines evenly.
Like, Knies - O'Reilly - Nylander could be your third line.
Bunting - Matthews - Jarnkrok
Kerfoot - Tavares - Marner
Knies - O'Reilly - Nylander
That'd give you 3 balanced lines, each with physicality, defensive ability, speed, and a significant scoring threat.
Petrus
Registered User
Long term Knies game seems to be more suitable for a complementary role currently played by Bunting (and previous to that Hyman) in top 6-9 . The LW is position in the top 6 is the one that’s effectively vacant with many players rotating in out to fill in. Knies attributes are a perfect fit and will get every opportunity to win 1LW-3LW starting next year.
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The Devilish Buffoon
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- Dec 24, 2018
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Vesey got a lot of coverage because he spurned the team that drafted him, which didn't happen often back then. It was a long, drawn out process. Same as Tim Erixon.
In both cases, the players were way farther in their development than Knies. And no, if Knies was on Arizona, no one with a clue would be comparing him to Vesey.
Knies is getting hype because he's a really good prospect and, of course, the Toronto factor plays a part - not just that they have a lot of media coverage, but Knies is also the type of player they've been pining for.
He might not be a top line player (I am not counting on it) but he seems like a very good bet to be a physically-imposing, offensively capable, and versatile top 9 guy. He is a very good compliment to skill/top 6 players but can play a bottom 6/cycling game very effectively.
I mean, I hope you're right. I hate the Leafs! But I'm not going to delude myself into thinking he's not a very good prospect.
