Report: Leafs not interested in trading Knies, Cowan, Minten

The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't keen on dealing away Matthew Knies, Easton Cowan, or Fraser Minten before Friday's deadline.

"The one thing I do know is that people have asked them about Knies, Cowan, and Minten, and they have said no to this point," Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said Tuesday on "The JD Bunkis Podcast."

Friedman added that those are the three players the Maple Leafs are asked about most. He cautioned that "what is true yesterday might not be true tomorrow ... but to this point, Toronto's made it very clear that those three players are players that they are not interested in dealing."

Knies entered Wednesday's action with 11 goals and 15 assists in 59 games with the Leafs this season. The 21-year-old winger has played on the club's top line alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

Toronto drafted Knies 57th overall in 2021, and he joined the team on an entry-level deal last April. Knies was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2022-23 after notching 21 goals and 21 assists over 40 games in his sophomore (and final) campaign with the University of Minnesota.

Cowan has 30 goals and 53 assists across 47 contests in his third season with the OHL's London Knights. The 18-year-old forward went 28th overall to the Leafs in last year's draft.

Minten played four games with Toronto earlier this season but has spent most of the campaign in the WHL. The 19-year-old center has 16 tallies and 15 helpers in 28 games with the Saskatoon Blades in 2023-24. He posted three goals and seven assists in seven contests with the Kamloops Blazers in the fall before they traded him to the Blades.

The Leafs drafted Minten 38th overall in 2022.

Cowan and Minten are two of Toronto's most promising assets, but The Athletic's Scott Wheeler ranked the organization's prospect pool 28th in February. The Leafs have their first-round pick in this year's draft to offer in a potential trade, but no second-rounders for the next three years and no first-round selection in 2025.

Toronto also projects to have just $144,166 in deadline cap space, according to CapFriendly.