Knies was drafted 57th overall by the Maple Leafs at the 2021 NHL Draft on Saturday.

EDGE Analysis

Not sure if you heard, but the Leafs took a young forward from Arizona once upon a time and it worked out for them. They are going back to the same well with Knies. Knies had a lousy season in his second year in the USHL (42 points in 44 games) and it is scary to think where he might have been if his production didn't increase over the final month of the year. Knies is a massive kid (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) with a better than average offensive skill set, but he's limited to the wing and has difficulty creating offense on his own. He needs to line up alongside a talented center who can feed him the puck. There's clear and obvious risk here, but Toronto is in position to roll the dice on a player like Knies.