Leafs add 4 on AHL deals, foreshadowing some Marlies graduating to the NHL
As the Leafs prepare for the upcoming season, something that GM Kyle Dubas said after the playoffs really sticks out. Dubas had stated this summer that the Leafs may look for some guys within the system to take a step forward and graduate from the AHL program to the NHL.
The Leafs have had an unusually low number of prospects graduating to the NHL over the past few seasons. Whether that was by design, and cooking prospects a little more slowly, or just because there was nobody showing that they were truly ready to make the jump, we don't know. But the fact of the matter is that Dubas and company will be leaning on their player development staff a little more starting this year to ensure that guys are ready.
Two of the most likely candidates to make the jump this year are Nick Robertson and Joey Anderson. Both appear to be too good to remain Marlies, but neither have shown much at the NHL level to warrant a full-time spot. This is a big "prove it" year for both players, and if one of them can grab ahold of a spot and play well enough to keep it, the team will be all the better for it. Pontus Holmberg, who came over from Sweden last season, is another who could potentially see NHL action at some point this year.
With that in mind, and the usual amount of roster turnover that teams deal with over the summer, there have been multiple additions to the Toronto Marlies lineup this offseason. On Friday morning, the Leafs' AHL affiliate inked four more players to AHL deals.
Jack Badini, Brett Budgell, Zach O'Brien and Zach Solow, all forwards, have all been signed to one-year AHL contracts. The fact that this crop of signings are all forwards leads to the idea that we are indeed likely to see multiple Marlies making the jump to the NHL this year.
Badini, who is well-known to former Chicago Steel GM and current Marlies GM Ryan Hardy, won USHL's Clark Cup with the Steel in 2017 before attending Harvard University from 2017-2020. In 3 seasons with The Crimson, Badini notched 51 points in 97 games.
Budgell, the youngest of this cluster, at just 21 years-of-age, scored 79 points in 67 games with Charlottetown in the QMHJL last season. The Charlottetown Islanders' captain added 20 points in 15 playoff games in the most recent postseason as well.
O'Brien, 30, is well-known to the Leafs' organization, as he played 53 games for their ECHL affiliate Newfoundland Growlers last season, and split time between the Growlers and Marlies in 3 of the last 4 seasons. In his 53 games last season, O'Brien posted 78 points and added 18 points in 13 playoff games as well. He also won the Kelly Cup in 2019 and was playoff MVP for the Growlers.
Solow, 23, is a Northeastern University product, who posted 104 points in 132 career NCAA games. Prior to his time at Northeastern, Solow played for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL, where he was named Forward of the Year in 2017. He had 69 points in 56 games that season. Solow comes to the Marlies fresh off of a Kelly Cup win with the Florida Everblades last season, having recording 18 points in 19 playoff games.
