For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page. *******
The Toronto Maple Leafs as expected brought their top prospect into the fold following the completion of the NCAA season, as the club announced the sigining of forward Matthew Knies to a three-year, entry-level contract on Sunday. The deal has an AAV of $925,000, no performance bonuses, and will burn the first year of the deal this year, making the winger a restricted free agent at the end of the 2024-2025 season. The 20-year-old had 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) in 40 games in his sophomore season with the University of Minnesota, earning Knies Big 10 Player of the Year, honors and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award Finalist and helped Minnesota reach the 2023 Men's Frozen Four National Championship, where they lost to Quinnipiac in heartbreaking fashion on Saturday.
“In two seasons playing for Coach Motzko and his program at the University of Minnesota, Matthew has participated in two Big Ten championship games, two NCAA Frozen Four Championships, one World Junior Championship tournament and one Winter Olympic Games,… Leafs General Manager Kyle Dubas said in a press release. “The impact of that experience in addition to the massive steps the program at University of Minnesota has helped him take on and off the ice are something that we are forever grateful for. We look forward to welcoming Matthew to our Club this week and helping him continue down the great development path he has been on with the Gophers.…
The Phoenix, AZ native has significant international experience, including representing the United States at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, which may help him make the transition to being a professional, but it is unknown how much of a role Knies will have with the Leafs going into the playoffs.
If Matt Knies ever has a shift like this in Toronto, the SBA might explode pic.twitter.com/EKgmOgTFre
— Nick Richard (@_NickRichard) April 10, 2023
The goaltending situation is still up in the air with Matt Murray not traveling with the club after suffering a head injury against Detroit and Ilya Samsonov giving Leafs Nation a scare on Saturday. The club is tight against the cap and may not have the option of calling up Joseph Woll, so if Samsonov starts against the Panthers, could University of Toronto goalie Jett Alexander start against the Lightning?
*******
The Toronto Chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association has made defenseman Mark Giordano its nominee for the 2023 Bill Masterton Trophy.
The award recognizes the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The oldest Maple Leaf at age 39, Giordano broke the modern-day NHL record for most career shot blocks in February with 2,045.
While the stat has only been kept regularly by the league since 2005-06, it remains a remarkable achievement, given the high velocity of pucks in this era, the heightened risk of injury and the value of shot blocks to team success. As of early April, Giordano is also ranked in the top 30 for blocks by an NHL defenceman this season. Giordano has proved indispensable for the Leafs in many other ways, as a mentor to the youngest players and the last defenceman on the team to take a game off in the 2022-23 regular season, consistently declining team suggestions to skip morning skates. In his first full season the Toronto native has averaged 18:58 of ice time. On April 6, he played in his 1,100th NHL game. Giordano was also a nominee for the Masterton during his years with the Calgary Flames.