Toronto Maple Leafs [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs] GM Brad Treliving has checked another piece of business off the to-do list in signing left winger Matthew Knies to a contract extension. Knies inked a six-year contract with the Maple Leafs on Sunday, at an average annual value of $7.75 million. He will be under contract through the 2030-31 campaign. He will be 28 years old, in the prime of his career, by the time he needs a new deal. The 22-year-old had a standout season in the final year of his entry-level contract. He scored a career-high 29 goals and 29 assists for 58 points. With that, he recorded 15 power-play points and six game-winning goals, while averaging 18:31 of ice time per game. Will another team be able to steal Matthew Knies from the Maple Leafs? Knies ended the regular-season fourth in goals and fifth in points among his teammates. Furthermore, he was tied with William Eklund as the third-highest point-scorer among players who were drafted in 2021 [https://www.nhl.com/stats/skaters?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20242025&seasonTo=20242025&gameType=2&draftYear=2021&sort=points&page=0&pageSize=50], behind the Dallas Stars’ Wyatt Johnston (71) and Utah Mammoth’s Dylan Guenther (60). Over the past season, Knies has emerged as one of the best true young power forwards in the NHL. He finished third on the team in hits [https://moneypuck.com/stats.htm] with 182, behind Simon Benoit (204) and Steven Lorentz (199). In the playoffs, Knies’ production didn’t slow down or take a hit. The Phoenix, Ariz. native scored five goals and seven points in 13 post-season appearances. In those playoffs, his ice time average jumped up from the regular season by over a minute to 19:48 per game. After this signing, the Maple Leafs have $13.57 million in salary cap space, per PuckPedia [https://puckpedia.com/team/toronto-maple-leafs], so Treliving still has some room to shop on the opening day of free agency on Tuesday. Matthew Knies (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/bf103ade-f001-4bf8-b6a2-d58b825ac433.jpeg] Matthew Knies (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images) The Leafs are coming off the contract extension of John Tavares from Friday, and before their new contracts, Knies and Tavares had a combined salary of $11.925-million against the cap. Now, the two forwards add up to $12.138-million for the upcoming 2025-26 season. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw?hl=en-CA&gl=CA&ceid=CA%3Aen] and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I]. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
