Is This the Closure Leafs Fans Needed on Matthew Knies?

There’s something a little strange about hearing Matthew Knies talk about leaving Toronto. Not angry. Not bitter. Not even particularly disappointed. Mostly, he sounds relieved. And that might be the part of this whole Matthew Knies trade that Maple Leafs fans needed to hear.

Knies admitted that the trade rumours had been hanging over him for quite a while. When the Maple Leafs finally dealt him to Columbus on Monday, he said he was shocked by the timing — one day before the season — but not exactly shocked that it happened.

“I feel like it was just kind of inevitable,” he said. There it is. Maybe that’s the closure.

Knies Was Tired of Being a Rumour.

For months, Knies was more than a Maple Leafs player. He was a name in everybody’s trade proposal. And that has to get old. Imagine being 23 years old, having just scored 23 goals and 66 points, signing a big contract in Toronto, and then spending the summer wondering whether the organization actually wanted you. Then suddenly you’re gone.

What really caught my attention was John Chayka apologizing to Knies for the “noise” surrounding him. That tells you something. Chayka said the Knies trade was the only move the Maple Leafs seriously considered, but he also acknowledged that all the speculation wasn’t necessarily fair to the player.

And now Knies gets to go to Columbus and just play hockey. He called it a “fresh start” and a “breath of fresh air.” For a guy who spent the summer hearing his name in trade rumours, that sounds pretty understandable.

And Maybe That Says Something About Playing in Toronto.

Here’s the secondary thought. We spend an awful lot of time around the Maple Leafs talking about players as pieces. Assets. Contracts. Cap hits. Trade chips. Comparables. But Matthew Knies just reminded us that there’s a human being inside all of that. Everybody wants to be wanted somewhere and to belong there. That’s the real human part of all this.

He wasn’t some disgruntled player demanding out of Toronto. He wasn’t somebody who failed. He was a young player who had a pretty good season and then spent months wondering where he was going to live and play hockey. He loved playing in Toronto and had a lot of friends there.

Now he knows he’s gone. And apparently he’s pretty happy about it.

Will the Trade Work for Both Teams?

That doesn’t tell us whether the trade will work for Toronto. That’s another conversation. But maybe Maple Leafs fans can finally put the Knies rumours to bed, too. He’s going to Columbus. He’s excited about playing with Adam Fantilli. He thinks he’ll fit into the Blue Jackets’ physical style. And he gets to stop wondering.

For Matthew Knies, that might be the best part of the trade. And for Maple Leafs fans? Maybe this is the closure we needed.