Maple Leafs sign former OHL star to AHL contract

The Toronto Maple Leafs made three minor-league additions to their organization and one of them just so happened to put up a legendary performance in the OHL.

Announced by the Toronto Marlies on Monday, they have signed forwards Reese Johnson and Marc Johnstone as pure veteran depth players. Additionally, they have signed goaltender Ken Appleby to a one-year AHL contract, who was one of best junior hockey netminders a decade ago.

While it might just be because of a certain writer's affinity for the 2014-15 Oshawa Generals (I'm that writer), seeing Appleby come home in some sense, is just pleasant to see.

Appleby, during his last year of junior hockey, completely dominated the OHL with the Generals. In 50 games -- an absolutely insane amount of games to play for a junior netminder -- he earned a .924 save percentage and a 2.08 goals against average, leading the entire OHL in both categories. It was historic. Among the 828 OHL goalies that played in 50 games or more since the start of that league in 1974, Appleby's save percentage was the eighth highest.

The North Bay, Ont. native continued that performance through the playoffs and led the Generals to the J. Ross Robertson Cup and eventually, the Memorial Cup. Appleby had a laundry list of awards and accomplishments for that 2014-15 season: OHL Second All-Star Team, OHL Most Shutouts (6), OHL Champion, CHL Memorial Cup All-Star Team, CHL Memorial Cup Most Outstanding Goaltender, and finally, a Memorial Cup Champion.

Appleby was clearly in high demand and he joined the New Jersey Devils organization after graduating juniors. Since then, unfortunately, he hasn't established himself as an NHL-level netminder -- bouncing around several different AHL and ECHL teams for the last decade. Most recently, Appleby backstopped 24 games for the Florida Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, and earned a .910 save percentage and an outstanding 1.96 goals against average.

After going from team-to-team all across the United States, finally, Appleby gets to return to Ontario. His only other time playing for a Canadian team since joining the professional ranks, was when he appeared in 10 games for the AHL's Manitoba Moose in the 2018-19 season. Appleby may be destined for the ECHL's Cinncinnati Cyclones, when the season starts, though.

The Marlies right now have their own goaltending depth chart to figure out. Dennis Hildeby, Artur Arkhtyamov, and Vyacheslav Peksa are all currently listed on the Marlies roster and have NHL deals. Considering Appleby is the lone netminder in the organization with an AHL-only contract, he might be jumping down to the ECHL in a support role with Peksa most likely joining him.

Still, it's great to see such a legend of one of the local OHL teams get his shot.