Matthew Knies is about to become the centerpiece of a Toronto Maple Leafs rebuild that nobody quite asked for.
This summer, longtime hockey analyst Jim Tatti pointed straight at the kids while the Leafs move past the Mitch Marner era.
Marner is gone. He signed with Las Vegas and now carries a $12 million cap hit for a team that isn't wearing blue and white anymore.
Knies posted 23 goals and 43 assists for 66 points across 79 games this season, the clearest proof he's the most established piece of the trio Tatti name-checked.
Cowan chipped in 11 goals and 18 points over 66 games, still just 21 years old and still finding his NHL footing.
"I would look at the development of Knies, Cowan, and now McKenna as a way to push the franchise forward," Tatti said.
Let's just say that this statement is much more reassuring than all the rumors about a trade involving Knies.
Toronto's minus-46 goal differential explains the urgency
It's not hard to see why Tatti is pointing forward instead of back. Toronto finished 32-36-14 for 78 points, dead last in the Atlantic Division.
The finale was a 1-3 loss at Ottawa, capping a seven-game slide that buried any argument for standing pat this offseason.
Trading Marner made sense on paper. He was already a cap number and a distraction more than a fit.
But building an entire forward group's future around a 23-year-old and a 21-year-old? That's the harder bet, and it hasn't been won yet.
Can two kids and a name most fans are still learning really turn around a roster that finished 28th overall?
New head coach Jim Hiller inherited this job on June 17, and he's the one who has to make Tatti's blueprint work on a nightly basis.
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Knies, Cowan and whoever McKenna turns out to be will get every opportunity to prove Tatti right. Training camp is going to tell the real story, not a hot take in July.
Should the Maple Leafs really build their future around Knies, Cowan and an unproven prospect like McKenna?
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