While the Maple Leafs have two prominent pending unrestricted free agents in Mitch Marner and John Tavares, they also have a notable pending restricted free agent in winger Matthew Knies. At times, it’s believed the two sides have talked about an extension but the 22-year-old told Daily Faceoff’s Jonny Lazarus that he expects a new deal will be worked out in the offseason. Knies has already passed his rookie-season totals in goals (22) and points (38) and has cemented himself as a fixture in Toronto’s top six. He’s the type of player they’d undoubtedly like to sign to a long-term contract but what happens with Marner and Tavares could ultimately dictate if they can afford to do that or if they’ll have to pursue a short-term bridge deal instead.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- The Maple Leafs are among the teams with strong interest in Canadiens center Jake Evans, reports David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period (Twitter link). Evans is on pace for a career year offensively and has 11 goals and 26 assists through 59 games. He’s also the most-used forward shorthanded in the league while being a little above average at the faceoff dot and it’s his defensive play that will have teams interested in adding him over the coming days. With a $1.7MM cap charge, he’d be easier for Toronto to fit into their current cap structure compared to some of the more prominent but pricier middlemen potentially available.
- Senators center Shane Pinto told reporters including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch (Twitter link) that he will return to the lineup tonight against San Jose. He had missed the last four weeks due to an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old has had a bit of an up-and-down season but has still managed to put up 11 goals and 11 assists through 46 games, numbers that are a bit off last year’s pace when he had 27 points in 41 contests.
- Still with the Senators, Garrioch reported earlier this week that the team has made defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker available and they are hoping to add a prospect in return. The 24-year-old has been limited to only 25 games this season between injuries and being scratched while he’s logging just over 13 minutes a night. He’s waiver-eligible and it seems unlikely he’d pass through unclaimed so Ottawa’s intention appears to be to try to flip Bernard-Docker for some sort of tangible value beyond clearing up $805K in cap room. Garrioch suggests that the Predators might be one of the teams interested in the blueliner’s services.