Matthew Knies has impressed so far this season

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Three games into his tenure as Leafs’ head coach, Craig Berube has been impressed with a pair of young Leafs in Nick Robertson and Matthew Knies.

Aside from being second-round picks, there aren’t many similarities between Matthew Knies and Nicholas Robertson. One similarity they do have on the ice, however, is their tenaciousness when hounding loose pucks, and although only Knies was rewarded with a goal in the club’s 4-2 victory Saturday night, Robertson continued to show that his size is not a concern with his relentless play.

Following the game, Berube was asked about the play of Knies and Robertson. He first addressed Knies, whom he believes has a very high ceiling.

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“He is a powerful guy. He was excellent tonight,” said Berube of Knies. “He is strong on pucks and plays the game the right way. The scoring of the goals will come. He is young. It is hard to score in this league as a young guy. I am not saying he is not going to score early in his career, but the goals will come. We are using him in all situations – killing penalties, power play, and out there at the end of the game at 6-on-5. He has been very structured. The strength of him and the skating He is high ceiling, for me.”
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As for Robertson, their relationship got off to a bit of a rough start after Robertson requested a trade and held out on a contract until a few days before camp. However, since day one of training camp, Robertson has shown great growth on the defensive side of the puck and continues to play hard and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Berube, who has been very impressed by Robertson’s work ethic.
“He has had a great camp. We all know that. He has worked. He worked again tonight. He is a dog on a bone out there. It was a great net drive. He battled and drew a penalty. It is an important play at that time in the game.”
 

 

The Leafs were smart to hold their ground with Robertson, and not trading him. The decision is already looking to be a good one, even though he hasn’t scored yet. For Knies, he and the Leafs are engaged in contract talks and it would be wise for the Leafs to lock him up long-term now to avoid having to pay a whole lot more later.