Maple Leafs Forward Perfect Offseason Offer Sheet Candidate

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in celebration mode after a win over the defending Stanley Cup champions. The victory clinched their ninth straight postseason appearance, and the sentiment is growing that this could be the year that they end their historic championship drought.

A huge piece of the Maple Leafs' success this year is the evolution and maturation of forward Matthew Knies' game. The 22-year-old Knies has blossomed into the next top-six forward in Toronto, with 26 goals and 51 points in 71 games this season. He's already set new career-best marks in every offensive category, and still has regular season games remaining.

Knies' production only helps the Maple Leafs for now. Once the season ends, however, his production might be why he's on a different team. Knies is one of the many young forwards who are eligible to sign an offer sheet this offseason, and after the success of the St. Louis Blues' offer sheets last summer, the Maple Leafs forward is becoming the perfect candidate to pursue this offseason.

The Maple Leafs are heading down a very dangerous road. They have multiple high-end players in need of new contracts, players like John Tavares and Mitch Marner. Between those two veterans and the still-improving Knies, Toronto could be forced to spend much of their available cap space on these three.

Which is why other teams are circling on Knies. They realize that the Leafs have to devote significant money to Marner and Tavares to retain them, which could leave them in bind regarding Knies. It's setting up exactly like the situation last season between the Blues and the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers were pushed to the very limit of their salary cap flexibility. They would've had to move out several other pieces and assets to match the contracts St. Louis offered to Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.

If another organization is cunning and opportunistic enough, they could do the same to the Leafs. Knies has the makings of a first-line forward who could produce between 70 and 80 points per season if he continues progressing at this pace. That's worth a significant salary, one Toronto may be unwilling or unable to muster up. With a few months separating organizations from the free agency period, the likelihood of an offer sheet heading towards Matthew Knies grows by the day.