The Toronto Maple Leafs took care of an important piece of business on Sunday afternoon by reportedly re-signing restricted free agent forward Matthew Knies to a six-year contract that will pay him $7.75M per season. It keeps a core player and rising star in place, and also prevents another team from potentially trying to sign him away as a restricted free agent. The details and the numbers are only part of the story for the Maple Leafs. This contract is also a big change of pace for Toronto due to the way it’s structured, mostly because it is a team-friendly contract for one of its best players whose best days are still ahead of him. Knies, the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in 2021, is still only going to be 22 when the 2025-26 season begins and has significantly improved in each of his first two full seasons in the league. He had a breakout year in 2024-25 with 29 goals and 29 assists (58 total points) and has emerged as a big-time power-forward that also had a strong playoff showing (five goals). SimplyRead More
Maple Leafs extending young star is big change of pace from previous era
