The Toronto Maple Leafs got a crucial bit of business done before free agency begins on Tuesday.
After re-signing John Tavares during the week, Toronto has agreed to a lucrative six-year contract extension for talented young forward Matthew Knies.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Knies's new contract will pay him an average of $7.75 million per season, meaning the total value of the contract is $46.5 million. That makes Knies the third-highest earner on the roster, assuming Mitch Marner departs in free agency as expected. Only Auston Matthews ($13.25MM AAV) and William Nylander ($11.5MM AAV) earn more per year.
Knies was set to hit restricted free agency, where a number of teams could have swooped in to try to sign him. Instead, the Maple Leafs opened the wallet and gave him a long-term deal that will keep him under contract through the 2030-31 season.
In 2024-25, Knies appeared in 78 games and had career highs across the board with 29 goals and 29 assists (58 points). At 22, he showcased plenty of promise, and Toronto showed just how highly they think of him with the big contract.
Re-signing Tavares and Knies will cost the Maple Leafs around $12.1 million per season, and the team still has plenty of cap space to make other moves—assuming they're unable to prevent Marner from hitting the open market.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Maple Leafs, Matthew Knies Agree to Massive Six-Year Contract Extension.
