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LW Matthew Knies - Tri-City Storm, USHL (2021, 57th, TOR)

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JimmyApples said:
To me, he’s not NHL ready and looks rough out there. He’s giving the puck away, trying to get too fancy, and losing puck battles like you wouldn’t believe. He doesn’t look dangerous offensively, and likely already developed a bad reputation with the refs for embellishment.
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Stop eating apples and switch to carrots.
Heard they are good for your eye sight.
 
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Hinterland said:
What do you wanna hear? As I already said, you can't argue against success so so far so good. I mean he won his 1st playoff series with his new team...with a team that hasn't won one for pretty much 20 years against a team that won several cups over the last few years.

I still don't see any Justin Abdelkader in this kid though. He's still too soft for my liking so I doubt he's gonna make a living in the NHL as a grinder or energy guy as suggested by some here. His skating is better than expected though and he's surprisingly strong on the puck so there's hope. We'll have to see how it all works out for him next season and beyond. Had quite a few bad turnovers but overall he's been helpful for the Leafs in this playoff series though which is good to see since my worry was that there's been too much pressure on him.
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He might not be throwing the body like he did in college. He is 20 stepping into the highest level of intense hockey with men after all but he has 12 hits in 5 games so far and has been great in board battles. He's had a few turnovers but for the most part he has been able to fight back for them.

As you can see by this clip, he isn't soft. I expect to see him play more like this, the more he plays and grows into a man's body.

 
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Hinterland said:
What do you wanna hear? As I already said, you can't argue against success so so far so good. I mean he won his 1st playoff series with his new team...with a team that hasn't won one for pretty much 20 years against a team that won several cups over the last few years.

I still don't see any Justin Abdelkader in this kid though. He's still too soft for my liking so I doubt he's gonna make a living in the NHL as a grinder or energy guy as suggested by some here. His skating is better than expected though and he's surprisingly strong on the puck so there's hope. We'll have to see how it all works out for him next season and beyond. Had quite a few bad turnovers but overall he's been helpful for the Leafs in this playoff series though which is good to see since my worry was that there's been too much pressure on him.
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Knies is a lot of things. Soft is certainly not one of them.
 
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TheBeastCoast said:
Yeah I mean I am a huge fan and have been for a long time....I think if he becomes a TJ Oshie like player for us that is a massive win. Obviously not going to complain if he is more then that lol
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I would be more than content with that, especially stapled to Matthews and Marner. I just see a higher ceiling personally. He's way too good in transition and protecting the puck with stick work for me to think he won't at least be a 60-70 point player at some point. An NHL offseason will be massive for him.
 
I was going to ask where he goes in a 2021 redraft, but then I realized it's way too early for that...a fact in itself which shows how impressive he's been.

I would have him right around that Guenther/Coronato right now, though, a tier below Johnson and Clarke.
 
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So after his first goal tonight, he has 4 points in 6 games so far in his first NHL playoffs. Pretty good.

After earning the trust of Keefe, he was promoted to the top line alongside Matthews and Marner and was one of our better players again tonight.

Still makes a rookie mistake here and there, but certainly continues to exceed all expectations.
 
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Future said:
So after his first goal tonight, he has 4 points in 6 games so far in his first NHL playoffs. Pretty good.

After earning the trust of Keefe, he was promoted to the top line alongside Matthews and Marner and was one of our better players again tonight.

Still makes a rookie mistake here and there, but certainly continues to exceed all expectations.
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If he keeps this up he might flirt with Abdelkader upside at his peak after all.
 
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Peasy said:
Dude is such a good forechecker and just crazy good along the boards. Hes been able to strip pucks off of some of the best players in the game today. Some of the takes by people in here already looking ridiculous.
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I'm a Habs fan, so I don't like the Leafs much. But in all fairness, this Knies guy is exactly what the Leafs needed. It's crazy to think there were many trade made along the years to find a guy like him and he just pops out of College doing everything that's asked of him. He's high tempo, makes good forecheck and has some sweet moves.
 
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He's been awesome... Has made some significant defensive mistakes but that is so typical of young rookies... The best part tho is Keefe throws him out next shift after those mistakes... Shows he has a ton of confidence in Knies.... He's gonna be a special player
 
NorthernFlicker said:
Get Abdelkader'd, scrub!

Kid is a beat out there. More impactful than Nylander imo.


TO be fair, there really arent many power forwards in the NHL right now. 6'3 220lbers playing in the top 6....hard to think of 10.
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Power Forward is getting hard to describe in the NHL now, the average size of a forward is 6'1 and 200 Pounds. Knies is listed at 210 Pounds, I wouldn't classify him as a Power Forward. 10 Pounds above the average is not a big difference. He'll be good, but I'm not going to say he'll be the equivalent of a Tom Wilson or Josh Anderson in terms of physicality, and can score 40 goals.
 
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Craig Ludwig said:
Power Forwards is getting hard to describe in the NHL now, the average size of a forward is 6'1 and 200 Pounds. Knies is listed at 210 Pounds, I wouldn't classify him as a Power Forward. 10 Pounds above the average is not a big difference. He'll be good, but I'm not going to say he'll be the equivalent of a Tom Wilson or Josh Anderson in terms of physicality, and can score 40 goals.
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We will see. He's gotten more physical every single game of this series. He's no Bennett, but Gudas and Tkachuk both bounced off him last night when he had the puck. Only time he got crushed was when Staal hit him 4 seconds after he passed the puck.

I think he will grow into that power forward label, more in the Tarasenko/tanky classification and not the Wilson type.
 
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