As the Pittsburgh Penguins were preparing to be called to make the 58th overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, they were getting ready to call out a name that would quickly make an impact in the NHL: Matthew Knies. The only problem was, one pick before the Penguins were on the clock, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat them to the punch.
On The Sheet with Jeff Marek, former Penguins executive Brian Burke shared the story of how it went down. “I really like Matthew Knies,” Burke said. “We were going to draft him in Pittsburgh. We took Tristan Broz, but we were going to take Knies. Right before Toronto took him, I said to [Ron Hextall], ‘what are we doing?’ and he said ‘we’re going to take Knies’.”
Knies to the Moon
Since being selected in the second round of that draft, Matthew Knies’s value has skyrocketed around the NHL. Now a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the 23 year old forward has already been on the verge of crossing the 30-goal plateau, finishing with 29 in the 2024-25 season as a member of the Maple Leafs, and has a career high of 66 points, which he set last season.
The former Arizona Jr. Coyote is currently sixth in points by a 2021 draft pick, trailing just players like Wyatt Johnston, Matty Beniers, Dylan Guenther, and William Eklund. He also has the fifth most goals from the draft class, trailing many of the aforementioned players and Mason McTavish, another player who was recently traded.
Knies was moved to the Blue Jackets at the end of September, just a day before he was set to start the 2026-27 season with the Maple Leafs. Immediately, he’s thrived with the Blue Jackets. In his debut against the Buffalo Sabres, he scored two goals and added an assist in a 6-3 victory. In his second game, he picked up another assist against the remnants of his relocated childhood team, the Utah Mammoth, bringing his total to four points in two games to start the season.
Who is Tristan Broz?
The player the Penguins ultimately ended up taking, as mentioned earlier, was Tristan Broz. A forward out of the USHL’s Fargo Force, Broz spent three seasons in the NCAA with the University of Minnesota and the University of Denver before turning professional for the 2024-25 season.
Broz has appeared in 108 games for the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and recorded 78 points (35 goals and 43 assists) during that time. He also made his NHL debut last season. He played 11:30 in a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres, recording two shots on goal.
While the 23-year-old Broz still has time to establish himself as an NHLer, it seems safe to say that the Penguins would much rather have had Knies if he had fallen just one more pick. To add insult to injury, current Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman JJ Moser was taken just two picks after Broz as well. Now the Penguins’ new General Manager Kyle Dubas has to face Knies on a regular basis as he plays for a divisional rival.
Former Penguins Executive Says They Nearly Drafted Matthew Knies