Maple Leafs had 5 teams wanting to trade for Matthew Knies
A Knies trade would've been surprising anyway.
Maple Leafs had 5 teams wanting to trade for Matthew Knies originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised the NHL when rumors emerged that Matthew Knies might be on the trade block.
He wasn't actually moved before the deadline earlier in March, but apparently it was on the table. And it wasn't just one team after Knies, even if the rumors have mostly centered around the Montreal Canadiens . Turns out, at least five teams wanted Knies.
That's what Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported in his new 32 Thoughts column on Thursday. "Teams that showed serious interest in Matthew Knies included Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, New Jersey and Utah," Friedman writes. "Everyone has denied that the Canadiens went far down the road, but … we’ll see.
There were some teams who didn’t believe the Maple Leafs were serious about it, but now recognize the possibility. " MORE: Oilers might be closer to Connor McDavid nightmare than it appears The most interesting part of this report is that batch of five teams. Anaheim, Montreal and Utah can all view this season as one in which they want to get into the playoffs and make noise.