What should the expectations for Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies be in his rookie season?

Matthew Knies looked straight ahead, towering over a group of reporters he’ll likely face often this season and tried to leave little doubt about what those reporters — and the hockey world — will see from him in his first full professional season.

“I want to play with the big players,” the 6-foot-3 Toronto Maple Leafs left winger said Wednesday after practice for the group of Leafs prospects heading to the Traverse City Prospects Tournament in Michigan. “I want to play with the big club and I’m just gonna work my best to play there.”

Knies, 20, has never been short on confidence, telling The Athleticlast season that he welcomes the pressure of playing in Toronto because it makes him “play better.” Yet what awaits him over the next few months will determine just how much time he’ll spend alongside those aforementioned big players.

Being invited to the Traverse City tournament might feel like a surprise at first given he’s the only invitee who will likely be a Leaf next season. But Knies welcomed the opportunity to get into competitive games before training camp.

Where Knies slots in the Leafs’ lineup out of training camp, and the kind of opportunities he receives on the ice this season remain to be seen. Knies himself already has an understanding that he needs to be “valuable in any aspect they want me in.”

Yet what’s clear is Knies has plenty lining up in his favour to potentially have a successful full rookie season.

Knies didn’t exactly enjoy the kind of wild summer some might expect out of a young man fresh off earning his first paycheque. He spent a quick week in Mexico with family, grinding away at games of tennis with his father, Miro. The elder Knies might have the edge on tennis skills but couldn’t keep up with his son’s improved stamina. Knies headed north to Kamloops, B.C., to hang with his friend and Arizona Coyotes prospect Josh Doan at the Doan family cottage before returning to Arizona to prepare for the upcoming season.

“In my training in the summer, I kind of stepped it up and tried to train my body to withstand such a long season,” Knies said.

He spent the majority of his summer training at Arizona State University with multiple Coyotes dropping in and out as well as a familiar face: Auston Matthews.

Knies said the time spent training together could help him and Matthews develop chemistry this season.

“Having someone that is a huge role model to me (and) with me on a daily basis was huge. Someone to kind of pick their brain, and someone (to) watch practice, watch how he takes his reps, it’s a really big thing for me.”

It was important for Knies not just to continue to develop chemistry with Matthews in case the two get thrown over the boards together at times, but also to be around NHL players as much as possible to better understand the areas of the game he tried to work on: quickness and adjusting to the pace of play in the NHL. Those two areas were a focus for Knies throughout his training. He hopes that come October, he’ll be prepared for the kind of schedule he’s never faced before.

Perhaps Knies’ most arduous challenge this season is the physical and mental toll an 82-game season can present. Knies has never played more than 44 games in a season. Whether his body and mind can withstand that challenge will likely dictate how many games he stays in the lineup for and how much production he can put up.

Knies himself said Wednesday his biggest takeaway from his late-season stint with the Leafs was how “demanding” the NHL is. And he only logged 10 games over the regular season and the playoffs.

“We play every other day. It’s physical, it’s hard out there. It’s fast. So I just learned that you’ve got to step your game up to the next level,” Knies said.

But if Knies needs help adjusting to the NHL over his full rookie season, he won’t just have one single teammate to confide in with Matthews. Leafs captain John Tavares opened his home to Knies, and the plan is for him to spend the entirety of this season living with Tavares, just as he did in his brief stint in Toronto last season.

The guidance Tavares could offer as the games, and the fatigue, add up through the season? That could be invaluable to him off the ice.

“How (Tavares) works out and how much he takes care of himself and how much he takes care of what he eats and what he puts in his body,” Knies said of what he might mimic from his teammates this season.

And that, in turn, could help Knies stay level-headed enough to produce consistently for coach Sheldon Keefe on the ice as well.

Amid the uncertainty over the future of Keefe early in the Leafs’ offseason, Knies was one player whose future was up for debate. If Keefe were replaced, would an incoming coach look at Knies the same way Keefe did?

Knies, after all, logged a healthy 13:07 ATOI through the playoffs, playing with some of the team’s better players while earning Keefe’s trust.

Now, with Keefe remaining behind the Leafs bench, it’s worth wondering whether those opportunities continue. You’d have to think Knies has a fan in Keefe, so could the coach give him an early run on the team’s presumed second line alongside Tavares to build some confidence out of the gate? Knies would bring some physicality to the second line, and his ability to use his size to create chances in front of the net will be an asset to any line he plays on.

Keefe has shown a predilection for frequently juggling his lines. Knies could begin the season on a line with likely third centre David Kämpf and lean in on the physical side of his game, sure. But Keefe’s history of shuffling the deck suggests the odds Knies could see time with Tavares or even Matthews at points throughout the season is high.

And Knies showed last season he can make the most of opportunities on short notice.

“Getting to play with some of the best players here, it’s something I didn’t take for granted,” Knies said.

The Traverse City tournament will provide a very slight indication of what Knies could be capable of this season. He began the tournament on the team’s top line alongside Fraser Minten. Knies showed off his ability to drive to the net in a 7-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects.

Knies has made an early fan out of new Toronto Marlies coach John Gruden, who will run the prospects team at the tournament.

“What I liked about Knies is that he wants expectations, but he was also first in line and he did every drill at top speed and he didn’t cheat anything, so I really admired that,” Gruden said.

Still, it won’t be Gruden whom Knies truly has to impress this season. When Leafs training camp kicks off under the watchful eyes of Keefe and Leafs general manager Brad Treliving next week, we’ll begin to see what should truly be expected of the most anticipated Leafs rookie season since Matthews and Mitch Marner joined the Leafs in 2016.

For his part, Knies says he’s ready for what’s ahead.

“I want to be that old, traditional hockey player that works hard, can play physical and can move the puck well and produce,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to try to be, and I think it just starts with my work ethic.”