Maple Leafs made a weird decision with Matthew Knies trade plans

Maple Leafs made a weird decision with Matthew Knies trade plans originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.It's hard to know exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs are thinking.

Matthew Knies remains in trade rumors, but he hasn't been traded yet, and the timing just got a little bit weirder.It's fair to think that the Maple Leafs would've wanted to trade Knies before the 2026 NHL Draft. That way, they'd get a sense of the draft board, and of the exact picks they might receive in at least part of the return.

By letting the draft come and go, the Maple Leafs passed up a logical window to trade Knies.The thing is -- now that they didn't trade Knies before the draft, the Maple Leafs are in no rush.It's weird if Knies was heavily available that he didn't move yet.

But if Knies is only conceptually available, maybe for a gigantic price, then it is a little more fair that he wasn't traded yet.MORE: What the Gavin McKenna pick means for the Maple LeafsToronto clearly isn't in a rush. That's one thing they've shown the rest of the NHL by holding Knies through the draft.

But given that it's not that clear to begin with why they want to trade Knies, this whole sequence has been bizarre.There were rumors, for example, that the Sabres' No. 4 overall pick might work in a trade for Knies, but that didn't happen.

Instead, Knies remains with the Maple Leafs with just a couple days until free agency opens. He's still under contract, but if Toronto wants to know its plan going forward, wouldn't it make sense to make a final Knies determination by then?All of this has been a bit hard to explain, so the fact that such a vibe continues isn't that much of a surprise.

More NHL news:Jack Eichel turned into Ben SimmonsFrederik Andersen heading toward an unceremonious exitCale Makar is about to become a lot more expensiveSidney Crosby trade plans did a 180 for the PenguinsIt's time to ask a serious Matthew Knies question