Although Matthew Knies is still a Maple Leaf, a crazy trade deadline speculation linked to the Canadiens won’t go away on Thursday evening.

Through the NHL Rumour Report account, insider Chris Johnston directly addressed it, and his response prompted more queries than it resolved.

The rumor is that Montreal and Toronto reached an agreement for Knies, but they submitted it at 3:01 p.m., one minute after the trade deadline had passed.

Johnston claims he is led to think that the late filing claim is untrue.

Here’s the twist, though. He also claims that he cannot entirely rule it out because people he respects are telling him that it occurred.

It’s about as foggy as an NHL rumor can be. Johnston cited hearing the charge discussed on the Steve Dangle Podcast on June 22.

Chris Johnston: I am inclined to think that the 3:01 story [late filing] is untrue, but I am unable to say since I have respected individuals who claim it to be true in relation to the Mathew Knies/Canadiens deadline rumor.

With a cap hit of $7,750,000 for Toronto, Knies played in 79 games this season, scoring 66 points on 23 goals and 43 assists.

Why this gossip made no sense on paper His production fell off toward the conclusion of the season, scoring just 7 points in his last 10 games and having a minus-12 run that coincided with Toronto’s decline.

The Maple Leafs ended the season with a 32-36-14 record for 78 points, a minus-46 goal differential, and were on a seven-game losing streak.

Martin St-Louis’ tenure as head coach in Montreal saw the club end with 106 points and a +27 differential, a difference that makes it difficult to envisage a scenario where Knies plays for Montreal.

Three of the four games that Toronto played against Montreal this season ended in losses, including one shootout loss and a 1-3 defeat in March.

Would Kent Hughes truly have to break a deadline rule in order to get Knies away from a team against whom he already knew the Canadiens’ number? It makes no sense.

Bob sees it this way. People should be more bothered by the fact that the reporting chain is broken than by the rumour itself if two respected voices in this profession cannot agree on whether a trade was filed a minute late.

No source, no document, and no name have been offered. Just a timestamp that either matters enormously or means nothing at all.

Knies remains under contract in Toronto heading into an offseason that already has enough noise attached to it. This rumor isn’t going away just because Johnston pumped the brakes.