Blake Kessel, the younger brother of Toronto Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel, has been invited to Toronto Marlies training camp.
The Marlies, the Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate, invited a total of 36 players to camp and revealed the roster Friday.
Blake, 25, was selected 166th overall by the Islanders in 2007, but has never played a regular season game in the NHL.
In 2013-14, Blake split time with the Bakersfield Condors and Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL and also spent a handful of games with the Rockford IceHogs and Rochester Americans in the AHL. Throughout his career he has also played for the AHL’s Adirondack Phantoms, the ECHL’s Trenton Titans, the Univeristy of New Hampshire and the Waterloo Black Hawks in the USHL.
More NHL on Sportsnet:
Subscribe: Rogers GameCentre Live
Rogers Hometown Hockey | Broadcast Schedule
The Kessel’s are a talented hockey family. Blake and Phil have a sister, Amanda, who is regarded as one of the best women’s players in the world; she won a silver medal with Team USA at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
Blake, unlike Phil and Amanda, is a defenceman.
The Marlies will hold team scrimmages over the weekend at the MasterCard Centre before opening the pre-season Oct. 3.
Here is the full Marlies training camp roster:
Forwards – T.J. Barnett, David Broll, Connor Brown, Jacob Cepis, Stefan Della Rovere, Jamie Devane, Brett Findlay, David Gilbert, Kristoff Kontos, Mickey Lang, Sepncer Machacek, Denver Manderson, Greg McKegg, Carson McMillan, Greg Miller, Brock Montgomery, Kory Nagy, Brad Ross, Ryan Rupert, Scott Tanski, Brady Vail, Francis Wathier, Patrick Watling
Defencemen – Mike Bergin, Matt Finn, Gleason Fournier, Blake Kessel, Eric Knodel, Andrew MacWilliam, Brendan Mikkelson, Tom Nilsson, Justin Sefton, Ben Shutron
Goaltenders – Christopher Gibson, Cal Heeter, Kent Patterson
