Sudden twist emerges on the future of Matthew Knies
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Jim Tatti wants the Toronto Maple Leafs to build around three young forwards.
The best evidence for that plan is not one of them.
Tatti pointed to Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan and Gavin McKenna as the way forward now that Mitch Marner is a Vegas Golden Knight.
"I would look at the development of Knies, Cowan, and now McKenna as a way to push the franchise forward."
- Jim Tatti
- Jim Tatti
That grouping flattens three very different situations. Knies produced 66 points in 79 games last season and is already a top-six winger, not a project.
Cowan had 29 points in 66 games as a rookie. McKenna has not played an NHL shift.
The Calder Cup is the proof nobody is citing
Toronto finished 32-36-14, last in the Atlantic Division and 15th in the Eastern Conference. Two months later, the Toronto Marlies won the 2026 Calder Cup.
Cowan was sent down for that run and delivered eight goals and 18 points in 22 games, including three assists in the clincher against the Chicago Wolves.
Goaltender Artur Akhtyamov, a 2020 fourth-round Toronto pick, won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as playoff MVP under coach John Gruden.
That is the real argument for John Chayka and Jim Hiller leaning on development.
Why the proof needs a warning label
The Marlies went 36-26-5-5 in the regular season. Their .569 points percentage is the lowest by a Calder Cup champion since 2002.
They also won four elimination games along the way. Runs like that reward goaltending and timing as much as they measure a pipeline.
So the honest version sits between panic and hype. Toronto has genuine evidence its development staff can finish a job, and thin evidence it repeats.
Every rebuilding club faces the same question this fall.
How much should an AHL title count when the NHL roster finished last in its division?
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