Big development regarding Matthew Knies.

There have been a series of major developments regarding Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Matthew Knies, all of which point to the fact that he is set to join the team ahead of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs.

News first broke when ESPN's John Buccigross reported that Knies was on his way to Florida, a move that coincided with a road trip from the Maple Leafs who are set to play the Florida Panthers this week. Many suspected that Knies would join the Leafs following the conclusion of the NCAA's Frozen Four, and the report from Buccigross certainly lent credibility to those rumors.

Those are rumors no more however given that National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman has now confirmed that Knies will in fact be signing his deal with the Maple Leafs, a deal believed to be valued at $925,000 per season in terms of his average annual value and salary cap hit.

Acquiring a player at such a low cap hit is always going to be a boon for any team in the National Hockey League, but it is especially valuable for a team like the Maple Leafs that has constantly been dealing with salary cap issues since the cap has stagnated thanks in large part to hockey revenues lost to the pandemic.