Matthew Knies was one minute away from being a Montreal Canadien.
A trade-deadline deal to ship the power forward from the Toronto Maple Leafs to their biggest rival didn’t happen because it was submitted 60 seconds past the 3 p.m. ET hard stop, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Friday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast.
“Now, I’ve heard some different variations on why it was late and whose fault it was that it was late, but I don’t know for sure,” Friedman said. “But suffice it to say, a lot of people pointed fingers at other people or gave different reasons as to why it didn’t happen.”
The trade would have sent Knies to the Canadiens in exchange for top prospect Alexander Zharovsky, one other prospect and two first-round picks, Friedman said, confirming a Thursday report by David Pagnotta of Daily Faceoff.
Knies, 23, is under contract through the 2030-31 season at $7.75 million annually but does not have a no-trade clause, making him a moveable asset as former general manager Brad Treliving sought to restock the Maple Leafs’ cupboards.
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However, with Treliving out and John Chayka in as GM, the trade likely won’t be resuscitated this off-season.
“I think it’s possible Montreal wanted to revisit it, but I don’t believe it will happen. I think that deal is off the table now,” Friedman said.
Knies, a second-round pick in 2021, appeared in 79 games this season, tallying a career-high 66 points (23 goals, 43 assists). However, as the Maple Leafs slumped out of the playoffs, the Phoenix native also posted a career- and team-worst minus-30.
The Canadiens, meanwhile, reached the conference final with seven-game series wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres before falling in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes.