After missing nine games with an upper-body injury, Auston Matthews has come back and is putting the puck in the net? Is he fully back or will it be a long road ahead? Alex Steeves has made history with the Toronto Marlies. His 11th goal of the season the first period of Toronto's game against the Laval Rocket on Saturday is the 169th point of his AHL career, moving him into sole possession of the club's franchise points record. Steeves tied the historic feat on Friday night in Laval when he scored a goal and an assist in the Marlies' 3-2 shootout win. He passes Kris Newbury, who had 168 points (56 goals and 112 assists) with AHL Toronto, from 2005 to 2009. The 24-year-old breaks the record in his 200th AHL game, tallying the 80th goal of his AHL career. He's up to 15 points in 12 games with the Marlies, the most among players on the team this season. Toronto signed him to a three-year, entry-level contract out of Notre Dame University on Mar. 28, 2021. After an injury to begin his 2021-22 season, Steeves immediately burst onto the scene, scoring 56 points (23 goals, 23 assists) in 58 games that year. He was one goal off the Marlies rookie goal record, set that same season by Bobby McMann, who scored 24 goals in 61 games with the club. Steeves has had difficulties finding a role at the NHL level. Since signing his entry-level deal, and being qualified last summer (a one-year, two-way contract), the forward has only played 11 games, tallying just one assist in that span. In his recent stint with the Maple Leafs, Steeves admitted to The Hockey News that he didn't know he was close to breaking the Marlies' record, however, if he did return to the AHL, the forward would love to make history. "I didn’t know about it until the beginning of the year when they were filming a lot of stuff,” Steeves said. “And I say with no salt or anything like that, hopefully, I never play an American League game again. But if I do, yeah, of course, I’m going to try to break that record the next time I’m in." If Steeves remains with the Marlies for most of this season, this won't be the only record he could break. The forward is 11 goals away from the team's franchise goals lead, set by Ryan Hamilton, who scored 91 with Toronto in 258 games, from 2009 to 2013. Only time will tell if Steeves breaks that record too.
