Matthew Knies is about to see the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time since they sent him to the Columbus Blue Jackets three weeks ago, and Tuesday night makes the reunion personal. The 24-year-old winger said he is still settling into Columbus after a trade that ended his three-year run with Toronto, but his first meeting with his former club has arrived fast.
Knies said Tuesday that last night was his first night out of the hotel in Columbus, a small sign of how new everything still feels. He had already played seven games in a Blue Jackets sweater before this matchup, but he was still working through the basics of a new routine. “This is my first time driving to the game, too — finding the parking lot, finding my spot. Little things like that. It takes some time,” he said.
The move hit hard because of how suddenly it came. Knies said he was on the way home from practice when his phone started buzzing, and the deal was done within an hour. He said the timing shocked him, especially coming after training camp and the pre-season games, but he also admitted the possibility had been hanging over him for months. “In the summer, it came up over and over. It just felt like it was something they needed to do. So, yeah. I’m here now, and that’s all I have to worry about,” he said.
John Chayka made the seven-piece deal that sent Knies to Columbus and brought Kirill Marchenko back to Toronto, turning a rumour that had followed both clubs into one of the offseason’s biggest shakeups. Knies gave the Blue Jackets an immediate return with two goals and an assist in his debut at Nationwide Arena, then saw his play cool as he adjusted to a new team and a new city. Zach Werenski said Tuesday that Knies’s personality was beginning to break through in the room.
For Knies, Tuesday night is less about what the trade meant in July and more about what it means now. He is no longer just the player who was moved; he is the one who has to skate into the game against Toronto and live with the first real version of life after the deal.
