If the New Jersey Devils were going to trade Simon Nemec for anything, it was going to be a young forward who could meaningfully improve the team.
That never came to fruition ahead of Friday's 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline, of course, but NHL insider Elliotte Friedman had his own trade idea for Nemec and the Devils that actually makes perfect sense, both for now and in the future.
"I'll say this: with the whole Matthew Knies thing, one of the guys I wondered about was Nemec. Now, I don't think Nemec for Knies, one-for-one makes any sense for Toronto, but I do think that's the kind of thing those two teams would've talked about," Friedman said in his latest "32 Thoughts" episode.
"The Devils have players with no-trade clauses, so I think it could've been a factor there. But, when I heard they were looking for a forward for a 'D', Nemec for Knies... at least the idea of that, made a lot of sense."
For context, Friedman previously wrote in a blog post for Sportsnet that, I heard some Matthew Knies, and that, to me, is the Maple Leafs seeing if there’s a massive offer they can’t turn down. That is the only way I see it happening."
Knies, 23, just signed a six-year, $46.5 million ($7.75 million AAV) extension with the Maple Leafs, though he won't see any trade protection kick in until 2030-31. For the Devils, that's an inexpensive piece they can be flexible with if things don't work out.
Of course, Knies is appealing for them due to his 6-foot-3 size and scoring exploits; he has 16 goals and 51 points in 60 games this year, and had 29 goals and 58 points in 78 games last year.
The Maple Leafs badly need some youth and some juice on their defense, as their aging and ineffective group of Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, Phil Myers, Troy Stecher, and Simon Benoit continues to struggle.
Aside from 2024 first-round pick Ben Danford, who is only 20, the Maple Leafs have no meaningful prospects coming up on defense, and Danford isn't exactly known for his offense.
As for the Devils, they have Nemec, Seamus Casey, Anton Silayev, and their first- and second-round picks in each of the next two drafts. There isn't much to work with outside from the defense, but it's more than enough to help the Maple Leafs get moving on a rebuild or retool.