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Every once in a while, a trade comes along that makes me stop and think about what a hockey team is actually trying to build. The Maple Leafs’ trade of Matthew Knies to Columbus for Kirill Marchenko is one of those trades. I understand why Toronto likes Marchenko. The guy can play. He's fast, he's big, he can score, and he had 67 points last season, including 31 goals. The Maple Leafs were one of the NHL's poorer offensive teams last season, so adding a winger who can put the puck in the net makes some sense.

Knies was a good player for the Maple Leafs.

But then I look at what they gave up. Knies had 66 points and 29 goals last season. He's three years younger than Marchenko. He's on a team-friendly contract. And, perhaps most importantly for this particular Maple Leafs team, he brings something that doesn't show up quite as neatly on a stat sheet. He brings some grit.

He goes into the corners. He battles. He is difficult to play against. He is the kind of player you might want around when the games get tighter, and the space gets smaller. That's what makes this trade interesting to me.

The Maple Leafs didn't simply trade one good winger for another. They traded one kind of good player for another. And they are paying more for the new one.

Marchenko’s new contract is about $5 million more per season than Knies’ deal.

Marchenko's new contract is worth $12.5 million per season, while Knies was making $7.75 million. That's roughly $5 million less for a player Toronto clearly believes has a higher ceiling. Maybe they're right.

That's what makes these decisions so fascinating. A team isn't necessarily trading the player it has. It's trading for the player it believes he will become.

But there's another little piece of this that interests me. The podcast discussion suggested Toronto had tried to move Knies before, including at the trade deadline. If that's true, then this wasn't simply Columbus wanting Knies and Toronto reluctantly giving him up. It suggests the Maple Leafs had already decided they were willing to move on. That's a big decision for a 23-year-old who was still improving. And now Knies is in Columbus, getting a much bigger opportunity.

Might Knies have a chip on his shoulder?

He has every reason to have a little chip on his shoulder. I wouldn't blame him. Except that, because of his hot start there, he might just be feeling more like “lucky me.” Maybe he sees a better chance to be a central player on the Blue Jackets.

And I'll be watching both sides of this one. Not just to see who scores more goals. I'm curious to see what each player becomes.