According to NHL insider Darren Dreger, who was a guest on the Barn Burner podcast. The Toronto Maple Leafs were reportedly in trade discussions with two of their biggest rivals: the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens.
While the season was already slipping away. It sounds like former GM Brad Treliving at least poked around on a move that could have shifted the direction of the team. Even if it never really got to the finish line.
Maple Leafs Dangled Knies
The name at the center of these discussions was Matthew Knies. While the report suggests it was never all that likely he would be traded, his name was clearly floating out there as the Maple Leafs looked for high-end young talent. Knies has been one of the few bright spots in a tough season, putting up 60 points in 72 games, and he is also one of the few key pieces on the roster without a no-movement clause.
It feels like other teams were pushing pretty hard here, just to see if the Maple Leafs’ struggles might push them into something they did not really want to do with the 23-year-old power forward. And honestly, that is usually when calls like this get made. Still, the asking price from Toronto was sky-high, which probably tells you why nothing ever really came of it before the deadline.
Pelley Hints at Prospect Targets
The most interesting part of the report is the specific players Treliving was asking for in return. During his press conference earlier this week, Keith Pelley mentioned two prospects that the Maple Leafs were apparently very high on: Michael Hage from Montreal and Radim Mrtka from Buffalo.
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Hage was a player the Maple Leafs likely wanted to draft in 2024 before the Canadiens selected him 10 spots earlier. Pelley’s public praise of Hage during his presser raised some eyebrows at the time, and now it kind of clicks when you look back at it. Treliving may have been trying to bring him in as the centrepiece of a Knies deal. As for Mrtka is a 6-foot-6 right-shot defenceman who was taken ninth overall in the 2025 Draft. Given the Maple Leafs’ need for size and skill on the blue line, it is not all that surprising Treliving had interest in a prospect like that. Big defencemen with that kind of profile do not exactly get moved around easily either.
The fact Pelley was in the room for these discussions and later mentioned these same players says quite a bit about how aware he is of where other teams in the division are heading. It also reinforces that while Knies may have been discussed, the Maple Leafs still view him as a key piece. They were not going to move him unless the return really made sense.
