Matthew Knies’ debut a great sign for Blue Jackets

Oct 2, 2026, 12:02 EDT

Knies had two goals and an assist in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 opening night win.

Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

We had already seen the early returns for the Toronto Maple Leafs from the blockbuster Kirill Marchenko-Matthew Knies trade that went down on the eve of the season, with Marchenko fitting right in alongside Auston Matthews on Toronto’s top line over the Leafs’ first two games. On Thursday, it was time for Knies to impress with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and he delivered.

The power forward had two goals and an assist in the Blue Jackets’ 6-3 opening night win over the Buffalo Sabres, earning the first star of the game. Even defenseman Emil Andrae, who came along with Knies in the trade, contributed an assist on Knies’ second goal. It’s too early to call the trade an outright success for Columbus, but Knies’ multi-point debut has to make Blue Jackets fans feel good.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton played a game of fill-in-the-blank and discussed Knies’ terrific start as a Blue Jacket.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Matthew Knies’ Columbus debut was ___.

Carter Hutton: Liberating. Liberating for these Columbus Blue Jackets. You have Marchenko, who doesn’t want to sign there and doesn’t want to be a part of your team. You’ve just been struggling to get things going, and all of a sudden you bring in this key piece who was loved in Toronto. Everybody loves the way that Matthew Knies plays the game. He comes out there, he gets two, he has an assist, and just knowing what his identity is as a player with that offensive upside, I think for Columbus Blue Jackets fans right now, you’re leaving that rink being like “We have our goalie, we just got another star forward, things are looking up.”

Tyler Yaremchuk: Totally. I used the word ‘inspiring’ for Blue Jackets fans. Put yourself in the position of a Blue Jackets fan in June when there were all those rumblings about if they would trade (Zach) Werenski. Then there was the night of the (Thomas) Harley trade that fell apart. Put yourself back in that spot, and then compare how you were feeling then when you were like “Are we trading Zach Werenski? Is Adam Fantilli going to sign if we trade Zach Werenski? Marchenko wants out.” And now you sit there and look, and Fantilli’s signed for the next six years, and yeah, you traded Kirill Marchenko, but you got almost a replica of him. I know he’s not quite as dynamic and all that, but his ability to impact a hockey game from right in front of the blue paint, that was evident last night.