It was quite the spring for 20-year-old Matthew Knies as he finished up his college hockey career, signed his ELC with the Maple Leafs, made his debut and then played in some playoff games all in a month.
Heading into the 2023-24 season, Knies will be a key piece to Toronto’s depth on forward as he enters his first full season as an NHL rookie.
The Phoenix native was able to get into three NHL games before the end of the regular season where he tallied one assist, before he would get into seven playoff games over two rounds of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs where he scored his first NHL playoff goal to go along with three assists for four points.
Although his postseason would be cut short due to a concussion he sustained on a hit from Florida’s Sam Bennett in game 2.
However, it’s not just Maple Leafs fans who are excited and pretty high on Knies heading into the 2023-24 NHL season. The oddsmakers have given the youngster pretty decent odds of winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s top rookie that season.
Our friends over at Betano have him at sixth-best odds, tied with Shane Wright at +1900, to win the Calder, just behind rookies like Connor Bedard, Luke Hughes, Logan Cooley, Devon Levi and Adam Fantilli.
2023-24 Calder Memorial Trophy odds:
Connor Bedard: -143
Luke Hughes: +550
Logan Cooley: +900
Devon Levi: +1200
Adam Fantilli: +1400
Shane Wright: +1900
Matthew Knies: +1900
Knies, who is tied with Wright at +1900 odds, are ahead of other rookies like Leo Carlsson, Luke Evangelista, Brandt Clarke, Simon Edvinsson and others.
It’ll be exciting to watch Knies play. It’s not just the five points he put up in 10 games spread between the regular season and the playoffs. His size and play with the puck in corners and along the walls are something that will very much complement the top guys on this team if he slides back into a top-six role like we saw at points in the 10 games he played in.
