Eight years after being drafted, Nicolas Mattinen has finally earned his shot with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The team announced Sunday that it has signed the 26-year-old defenceman to a two-way contract that will begin in the 2024-25 season. The NHL value of the deal is $775,000.
Mattinen was originally drafted by Toronto in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, and has since had stops with five OHL teams, at the University of Ottawa in U Sports, in Austria and in Germany.
This past season, he played in 52 games with the Straubing Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), collecting 16 goals and 46 points. The six-foot-five defenceman was named the DEL Player of the Year for his efforts.
The Toronto Marlies also made a move Sunday, signing defenceman Chas Sharpe to a two-year AHL contract that will begin in 2024-25.
Sharpe will join the Marlies on a PTO for the remainder of this season.
The 20-year-old served as the captain of the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, racking up 19 goals and 53 points in 67 games.