{"id":544970,"date":"2026-04-07T05:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544970\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T05:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:22:12","slug":"maple-leafs-were-unable-to-trade-knies-for-1-reason-insider-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/544970\/","title":{"rendered":"Maple Leafs were unable to trade Knies for 1 reason, insider says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t<img width=\"780\" height=\"439\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/knies_e041d5-e1775531762451.jpg\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" alt=\"The Toronto Maple Leafs were unable to trade Matthew Knies at the deadline for a particular reason, an insider noted.\"   decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>The Toronto Maple Leafs were unable to trade Matthew Knies at the deadline for a particular reason, an insider noted.<\/p>\n<p>Exactly one month after the NHL trade deadline came and went, fallout for a Toronto Maple <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nhl\/toronto-maple-leafs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Leafs<\/a> botched deal continues to emerge.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, the <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nhl\/toronto-maple-leafs\/maple-leafs-knies-canadiens-blockbuster\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">purported trade involving Matthew Knies<\/a> continues to generate plenty of speculation. The ongoing chatter suggests that the Leafs were willing to move Knies. However, the deal just didn\u2019t make it across the finish line in time.<\/p>\n<p>The talk suggests that the Maple Leafs asking price was too high for other clubs\u2019 liking. While that may be true, there could have been another reason for the lack of movement.<\/p>\n<p>According to insider Nick Kypreos, the reason why the Knies deal never got across the finish line was because the Maple Leafs, in particular, former GM Brad Treliving, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportsnet.ca\/nhl\/article\/real-kypers-nhl-buzz-what-maple-leafs-are-considering-next\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">made up his mind about trading Knies far too late.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cA big issue for teams suspected to have been involved in those talks, including Montreal and Chicago, was how late the possibility was raised. Toronto caught teams off guard with the idea, and some were unprepared to make a deal of that magnitude up against the deadline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Kypreos noted, Treliving\u2019s successor will need to figure out if this move will continue in the offseason or if Knies will be off the market.<\/p>\n<p>That said, it\u2019s interesting that this detail regarding the Maple Leafs has emerged after Treliving\u2019s removal. Of course, the former Maple Leafs GM\u2019s departure did not come down to just this one situation.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s an example of just how bad things got for Treliving at this year\u2019s trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Treliving Nearly Botched Another Trade<\/p>\n<p>Another report that emerged in the post-deadline fallout was the Scott Laughton trade with the LA <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nba\/sacramento-kings\/\" title=\"Kings\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"217433\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kings<\/a>. According to the chatter, the Laughton deal went down about two minutes before the deadline officially expired.<\/p>\n<p>It was a fortunate move for the Maple Leafs. Had the deal been held up a couple of more minutes, it would not have counted.<\/p>\n<p>While the return for Laughton wasn\u2019t what Toronto fans were hoping for, it happened at the very least.<\/p>\n<p>When filling in some more of the details after the trade deadline, it seems like there was some decision paralysis afflicting Leafs\u2019 management. That might have been the reason why other deals didn\u2019t happen, such as moving Brandon Carlo, Nick Robertson, or Calle Jarnkrok, among others.<\/p>\n<p>What to read next: <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nhl\/toronto-maple-leafs\/maple-leafs-managed-replace-marner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external nofollow\">Maple Leafs Actually Did Manage to Replace Marner<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Maple Leafs New GM Will Need to Be Decisive<\/p>\n<p>The most important quality the Maple Leafs could be looking for in their new GM is decisiveness. With an aggressive retool likely on the horizon, the organization will need someone who\u2019s not afraid to make tough calls.<\/p>\n<p>That may be easier said than done. While there may be an appetite to move players like Morgan Rielly, doing so won\u2019t be easy. The Leafs will need to figure out what other clubs are willing to pay for the pieces the Maple Leafs have.<\/p>\n<p>That particular situation could represent the need for an experienced executive. Bringing in someone shiny and new might seem like a good idea from a media perspective. But the reality is that this offseason could be too much for a greenhorn.<\/p>\n<p>Consequently, the Maple Leafs will need to tap someone with at least some experience. If the organization can land a bulldog, all the better.<\/p>\n<p>The one certain thing is that the Leafs don\u2019t have much time. They can\u2019t afford to take forever. That\u2019s why they made the move when they did. The organization only bought itself some time ahead of a complex offseason.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/nestorquixtanhernandez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nestor Quixtan<\/a> Seasoned NHL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor&#8217;s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor&#8217;s fondness for baseball and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. <a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/author\/nestorquixtanhernandez\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">More about Nestor Quixtan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Maple Leafs\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Toronto Maple Leafs were unable to trade Matthew Knies at the deadline for a particular reason,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[5,20,5172,4,66,31,5171],"class_list":{"0":"post-544970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-maple-leafs","10":"tag-mapleleafs","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-toronto","13":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","14":"tag-torontomapleleafs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116361754141531466","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}