3 Frozen Four participants that will immediately impact the NHL

HALIFAX, CANADA - JANUARY 05: Team captain Luke Hughes #43 of Team United States holds up the bronze medal trophy after defeating Team Sweden 8-7 in overtime during the bronze medal round of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiabank Centre on January 5, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

2. Matthew Knies

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to love having Matthew Knies on their team.

Over the weekend, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they have signed Matthew Knies to his entry-level contract. Obviously, that is going to be great for their team as they add another really good forward to the group.

Knies just had an amazing run with the University of Minnesota. He was the Big Ten Player of the Year which tells you just how good he was. He also went with the Gophers all the way to the National Championship where they were defeated in overtime by Quinnipiac.

Matthew Knies plays a hard game that gives tremendous effort at all times. It is going to be just the right fit with the Toronto Maple Leafs who are constantly looking for players like him. Their top six forwards will benefit from knowing that a kid like this is there behind them on the depth chart.

In 2022-23, he had 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 40 games played. That is an amazing and balanced production that will really help Toronto’s attack. It will be interesting to see how they use him this week following his NHL debut on Monday and now going into the playoffs.

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