The Toronto Maple Leafs are about to lose one of their great homegrown talents. Mitch Marner is as good as gone as unrestricted free agency approaches on July 1. But they made no mistake keeping another one around on Sunday. Multiple reports indicate that the Maple Leafs and Matthew Knies have agreed on a six-year contract. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman first reported that the finish line was in sight.

“Hearing the Toronto Maple Leafs and Matthew Knies are making progress on a contract extension…great for team and player, big bit of business done,” Friedman reported.

Friedman then reported that the deal was for six years and $7.75 million per year. That reporting was matched by Frank Seravalli, Darren Dreger, and Chris Johnston, among others.

Knies scored 29 goals and added 29 assists in his second full season in 2024-25. The Maple Leafs' 2022 second-round pick became an unmistakable member of their top six throughout the year. His scoring even carried over into the postseason, with five goals and two assists in 13 games.

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Knies was going to be a restricted free agent on July 1, so a big offer sheet candidate is off the board. He is the second player the Maple Leafs have re-signed this week, following John Tavares' four-year deal. According to CapWages, they have $14.4 million in space remaining.

The Maple Leafs have two more RFAs to take care of in Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg. Those forwards will cost significantly less than Knies, so they should go into the summer with space. While that will likely not be used on Marner, there are other forwards they can plug into their top six.

Knies has one big stat working against him for the 2025-26 season. He shot 19% last season, which is dramatically above the league average. That number regressing to the mean would mean fewer goals, which can cause Toronto chaos. But for now, their young forward is locked in for six more seasons.