Toronto Maple Leafs: Marlies Add Depth In Darren Archibald

CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 07: Belleville Senators left wing Darren Archibald (25) controls the puck during the third period of the American Hockey League game between the Belleville Senators and Cleveland Monsters on March 7, 2019, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 07: Belleville Senators left wing Darren Archibald (25) controls the puck during the third period of the American Hockey League game between the Belleville Senators and Cleveland Monsters on March 7, 2019, at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t the only professional hockey team in this city making moves as of late.

After watching a number of their veteran contributors depart this offseason – Chris Mueller and Vincent LoVerde to free agency; Colin Greening to retirement – the Toronto Marlies made strides to bolster their leadership group this afternoon by signing forward Darren Archibald to a one-year AHL deal.

Archibald, a 29-year-old right winger, is a native of Newmarket, Ontario who will now be playing for the AHL affiliate of his hometown team. It’s every child’s dream! Well, I’m sure landing on the NHL roster of your hometown team is every child’s actual dream, but this is a close second.

Splitting the year between the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators organizations, Archibald spent the bulk of his time last season in the American League with the Utica Comets and Belleville Senators, mustering a combined 33 points in 51 games while flirting with the 20-goal mark (his final total was 19), as well. Given the number of holes that now occupy the Marlies’ forward corps thanks in large part to the exits of Mueller and Michael Carcone, who was dealt to Ottawa as a part of the Nikita Zaitsev trade, Archibald’s signing will hope to bring a facet of the offensive upside and veteran leadership the team has lost over the summer.

The acquisition of Archibald, while seemingly insignificant on the surface, is otherwise entirely in line with how the Maple Leafs have sought to fill their AHL roster under the purview of Kyle Dubas.

The financial specifics of the deal have yet to be released – and may never be, given the nature of AHL contracts – but there’s a good chance that Archibald will be paid somewhere in the ballpark of NHL money by the Maple Leafs next season to play at the level below. It’s a similar path to the one the organization took when bringing in Mueller and LoVerde in 2017, signing the pair to NHL minimum deals with the full intent of playing them on the Marlies, as both players went on to become vital pillars of the team’s Calder Cup victory the following year.

While his deal happens to be of the AHL variety, Archibald is still a veteran of 58 NHL games over the course of what is an 8-year professional career to this point – with a personal-best 27-game stint up with the Canucks in 2017-18 sprinkled in for good measure – and brings big-league pedigree and experience to the breeding ground of Toronto’s stable of prospects. He’s a proven contributor now joining a roster that needs one. Not to mention, if Archibald can match the production totals from the last uninterrupted season he spent in the AHL (23 goals, 24 assists for 47 points in 73 games with Utica in 2016-17), the Marlies will inch closer to replicating their offensive success from the prior two seasons.

Depth moves such as these rarely grab headlines. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t important.

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