Matthew Knies trade rumors just won't go away, and the Maple Leafs are back in the middle of it.
On Friday, Nick Kypreos said Toronto would rather move Knies than Easton Cowan, and he doesn't expect the speculation to fade anytime soon.
Knies carries a $7,750,000 cap hit and finished this season with 66 points in 79 games, though he closed at a minus-30 rating.
Cowan, still on his entry-level deal worth $904,667, put up 29 points in 66 games, with 7 points over his last 10.
Toronto wrapped the year at 32-36-14, good for 78 points and a minus-46 goal differential, closing the season on a seven-game skid.
That kind of finish tends to put every name on the table, and apparently Knies is one of them.
Kypreos laid it out plainly on social media, and the graphic underneath spells out exactly why Leafs fans should be nervous.
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Why Easton Cowan's rookie deal changes everything
Put Cowan's $904,667 cap hit next to Knies' $7,750,000 and the front office math writes itself.
A rebuilding team tight against the cap doesn't often keep the pricier winger just because he's been there longer.
Trading Knies means moving size, speed, and a right shot winger just hitting his prime years, and that's a bigger swing than anyone's admitting out loud right now.
It's the hockey equivalent of trading in a paid-off truck because the lease payment on the new one looks better on paper.
Nothing here is official. The Maple Leafs haven't confirmed a thing.
But the kind of noise Kypreos is describing doesn't sound like the kind that quiets down before training camp opens.
Should the Maple Leafs trade Matthew Knies before Easton Cowan?
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