Nicolas Mattinen played four years in the OHL, winning two Championships with London and Hamilton
Talk about taking the long route to earning an NHL contract. Nicolas Mattinen was drafted eight years ago in 2016 in the sixth round by the Maple Leafs. Toronto GM Brad Treliving adds another big, rangy defenseman with Mattinen standing at 6-foot-5 and over 200 pounds.
Mattinen started his OHL career with the London Knights before splitting his last two with Flint, Hamilton, and Oshawa. He won the OHL Championship with London in 2016 — although playing in only five playoff games and not factoring into their Memorial Cup win — and was teammates with Mitch Marner.
He played more of a factor in Hamilton's 2018 OHL Championship but came up short in the Memorial Cup. His best season came in his last year where he scored 18 goals and 61 points in 68 games split between Hamilton and Oshawa.
After aging out of the OHL and Toronto electing not to sign him, he took his talents to the University of Ottawa in 2019-20. He lost out on playing in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down all of USports, but came back and won the USports Defenceman of the Year the following season.
Mattinen has played his last two years overseas in Europe, most recently in the top German league DEL where he regained the attention of Maple Leafs scouts. Not only was he the Defenseman of the Year, he won Player of the Year, recording 17 goals and 53 points in 64 combined regular season and playoff games.
His one-year two-way contract will kick in at the start of next season where he will be competing for a full-time roster spot with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL and hopefully can impress enough to earn a few call-ups with the big club.
What can Maple Leafs fans expect from their new right-shot defenseman? Jack Han, who previously worked with the Leafs gave a brief scouting report on Mattinen on his Twitter.
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