Prospect Matt Frattin leading AHL charge in final attempt to earn NHL spot
When Matt Frattin left North Dakota in 2011, he was a can't-miss NHL prospect and a Hobey Baker finalist -- college hockey's Heisman Trophy.
But it's never easy to make it in the NHL, and it's even harder when a player suffers a knee injury the way Frattin did in his first pro season. The once-heralded prospect became a trade piece, and over the course of 14 months, he was sent to LA and then Columbus before landing back in Toronto, where he was assigned to the AHL Marlies.
This season, Frattin had to prove himself if he wanted to break out of a funk which threatened to derail his hopes of an NHL career. And prove himself he did -- at least at the AHL level, where Frattin tallied 26 goals in 59 games while playing on a line with top prospect William Nylander and Byron Froese.
Frattin will be expected to serve as one of the team's leaders when the Marlies begin their AHL playoff run on April 25, but it will all be a prelude to what he hopes will eventually be a playoff run with the NHL Leafs.
"That's everybody's goal in our dressing room and definitely one of mine," Frattin said to the Maple Leafs website.
(h/t Toronto Maple Leafs)
Photo by Robert Stanton- USA Today
