Like every year, there are going to be a few players on the Toronto Marlies roster that end up playing a bunch of games with the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.
When I think of the Toronto Marlies, I think of a winning organization that does an amazing job at developing talent. Since the team came into existence in the 2005-06 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team has only missed the playoffs three times.
Even better, they’ve made the Conference Finals six times, have reached a Calder Cup Finals twice and actually won the championship during the 2017-18 season.
The Marlies are one of the most successful AHL franchises of the past two decades and year-after-year, they’ve continued to develop future Leafs. During the 2020-21 season alone, there were 12 players that played for both the Marlies and Leafs at some point in their career:
- Joey Anderson, Adam Brooks, Travis Dermott, Pierre Engvall, Justin Holl, Michael Hutchinson, Timothy Liljegren, Jake Muzzin, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Nick Robertson, and Rasmus Sandin
As you can see, the AHL is such an important place for development and once the 2021-22 season is over, there will definitely be a few more names to add to that list.
Also, before we get to the list and everyone freaks out, we’re not going to include Timothy Liljegren, Nick Robertson and/or Rasmus Sandin because that’s just too obvious.
Here are three Toronto Marlies that could surprise fans and get a shot on the Toronto Maple Leafs roster.