The Toronto Marlies of 2015-16 were arguably the best team to ever hit the ice at Ricoh Coliseum.
An offensive powerhouse full to the brim with young and exciting Maple Leafs talent, the baby buds steamrolled their way to an inaugural regular season title.
The expectation was a franchise first Calder Cup Championship, but hopes were dashed in the Conference Final by the Hershey Bears.
That means the closest Toronto Marlies have come to a championship remains their 2012 campaign, when a dominant Norfolk Admirals team swept past them in the final.
After a huge roster turnover and sweeping changes in the Toronto organization since then, what has become of the 46 members from the class of 2012?
Retired
Mike Zigomanis was the leading scorer that season with 61 points in 68 games, but his production was hampered during the 2012 playoffs due to injury. The centreman spent one more year in Toronto before retiring after a final season with the Rochester Americans. Zigomanis was known to have battled concussions during his career. He leads the Marlies in all-time assists with 116.
Jeff Finger, Richard Greenop (failed to play a game) and Josh Engel all hung up their skates in the summer of 2012.
Defenseman Andrew Martens and forwards Kelsey Wilson and Matt Caruana all retired in 2014. Martens spent two seasons with the Wichita Thunder after departing Toronto, while Wilson played in ECHL and headed overseas to Slovakia and the UK. Matt Caruana went to ply his trade in the German second division before a final year with the ECHL’s Brampton Beast.
College signing Brayden Irwin suited up just once for the Marlies but would go on to win a Kelly Cup with the Florida Everblades that season. The winger flitted between ECHL and AHL before retiring in 2015.
Defenseman Ray Macias played just a couple of games on loan for the Marlies. He went on to play in Germany and Scotland before retiring in 2015 after a final season in Utah with the Grizzlies.
Luca Caputi, acquired in the Alex Ponikarovsky trade at the 2010 deadline, finished his playing career after two seasons in Sweden for VIK Västerås HK and IK Oskarshamn respectively. After an early retirement, Caputi is now entering his second season as an assistant coach of the Guelph Storm in the OHL.
Colton Orr was the last of this crop to retire. He seemed set for a life off the ice after a final fling for the Leafs in 2015. The fiercely-loyal Brian Burke, who publicly mourned the obsolescence of Orr’s role in the NHL while in Toronto, gave him an AHL contract that saw him suit up a further ten times for the Stockton Heat during 2015-16 before Orr decided to call it quits for good.
Chris Noonan was a young goaltender signed out of Niagara University on an ATO in April 2012. The Michigan native was not called upon during his short time in Toronto and has not played a professional game since.
Free Agents
Jerry D’Amigo was traded for Matt Frattin in the summer of 2014 and was traded again — to Buffalo — in the season that followed as he found himself suiting up for the Springfield Falcons, Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans in 2014-15. He spent last season exclusively with the Buffalo Sabres’ struggling affiliate.
Former Bruins first round pick in 2005, Matt Lashoff spent time in Holland, Sweden and Russia before returning to AHL for three different teams. Lashoff signed for German team Adler Mannheim last year after starting in the AHL with Lehigh but appeared on just three occasions in the DEL last season.
After a trade to Tampa, Keith Aulie saw some NHL time with the Lightning and later with the Edmonton Oilers. It’s been a struggle since, with seven games for Springfield Falcons followed by a further 23 for Finnish team HIFK last season. Aulie represented Team Canada in the Spengler Cup this past Spring, appearing four times as they picked up the winners trophy.
David Broll, a former sixth round pick of the Leafs in 2011, was traded along with Carter Ashton to Tampa Bay. The 23 year old forward has since played 80 games for the Syracuse Crunch.
Mark ‘In Da Park‘ Owuya has struggled to find a permanent playing home since his Toronto days — short and varied stints with the defunct Las Vegas Wranglers, Luleå HF (SHL), Medvescak Zagreb and Utah grizzlies, as well as two loan spells in the AHL that resulted in no playing time.
KHL
Greg Scott spent one more season with the Marlies before departing for Swedish club Brynäs IF. After three season in the SHL, Scott signed for CSKA Moscow and is just one of two North American players on the team known as the ‘Red Army‘.
Carter Ashton suffered an ignominious end to his Toronto career after failing a performance-enhancing drugs test. After a trade to Tampa, he ended his North American playing days with their affiliate in Syracuse. Ashton is now in his second KHL season turning out for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod.
Ben Scrivens was a lynchpin throughout his Marlies career and still features heavily in their record books. Holding the best single season franchise statistics in goals against average and save percentage, Scrivens is also tied for single season and career shutouts. After spells in Los Angeles, Edmonton and Montreal, the Spruce Grove native is set to ply his trade for Dinamo Minsk in 2016-17.
North America
Ryan Hamilton was the Marlies captain and leading goal scorer during 2011-12. He joined Dallas Eakins and the Edmonton organization in the summer of 2013 as a free agent, but received few NHL opportunities. Hamilton was handed the captaincy of the Bakersfield Condors for their inaugural AHL season and will continue to hold that role for Edmonton’s affiliate in 2016-17. Hamilton leads the Marlies in all-time goals with 94.
Mark Fraser has been well travelled since departing Toronto, with spells in Edmonton, New Jersey, Albany and Binghamton. He’ll now be reunited with his former captain in Bakersfield.
Joe Colborne followed up his AHL career-high points tally in 2011-12 by repeating the trick the following season. Controversially traded by Toronto to Calgary for a fourth round pick after getting cut out of camp in 2013, Colborne posted career-high NHL numbers last season with 44 points. He signed a two-year, $2.5 million AAV contract with the Colorado Avalanche after the Flames let him walk as a UFA.
College signing Spencer Abbott played a very small part during 2011-12 but went on to make his mark two seasons later. His 52 assists in 2013-14 was a franchise record, as was a 13-game point streak. Traded to Chicago in 2015, Abbott went on to sign in Sweden with Frölunda HC for 2015-16, winning CHL and SHL championships. Abott will return to North America after signing with the Chicago organization for 2016-17.
Korbinian Holzer last represented the Marlies in 2014 after clearing waivers. Traded to Anaheim later that season at the deadline of March 2015, the defenseman continues to be a member of the Ducks organization, where he played 29 NHL games last season. He will re-unite with new Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle this season.
Matt Frattin sustained an season-ending injury late during the 2012 Calder Cup run after netting ten goals in 13 games. It was the beginning of end for Frattin as he has failed to reach those heights again. After spells in Los Angeles and Columbus, Frattin returned to Toronto before his contract transferred to Ottawa in the Dion Phaneuf trade, although he finished the year with the Marlies on loan. The right winger has signed an AHL contract with the Stockton Heat for 2016-17.
College signing Tyler Brenner scratched around in the ECHL post-2012 before heading for the Chinook Hockey League (Alberta), where he will play for Lacombe Generals in 2016-17.
Forward Kyle Neuber headed to University and represented Guelph in the CIS for three years. He’s signed with the current ECHL Kelly Cup champion Allen Americans for the upcoming season.
Kenny Ryan is another to find himself in the ECHL after recently putting pen to paper for the Cincinnati Cyclones. The Leafs‘ former second round pick in 2009 has also spent time in Lake Erie and San Diego.
A free agent this past summer having not been tendered a contract at the conclusion of his ELC, former first round draft choice in 2011 Stuart Percy signed with the Pittsburgh organization for 2016-17.
Europe
Marcel Müller, a signing of the Leafs out of Germany in 2010, left to join MODO of the SHL in 2012 but has since returned to his native homeland, where he’s played for the Kölner Haie, the Hamburg Freezers and the Krefeld Pinguine. He will return to represent Krefeld in 2016-17.
Philippe Dupuis failed to record a single point for the Leafs in 30 outings but he was a key contributor for the Marlies in 2011-12. In 42 games, Dupuis put up 31 points, including 15 goals. A further fourteen points in the Calder Cup campaign made him the Marlies’ leading playoff scorer in 2012. A shortened season due to injury with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins was followed by three years in Germany with the Hamburg Freezers. Dupuis has since departed Hamburg for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers.
Jesse Blacker, the Leafs’ other second round pick in 2009 (eight picks after Kenny Ryan), was traded to the Ducks in 2013 alongside a second round draft choice, a deal which brought Peter Holland back the other way. Blacker suited up just once in the NHL for Anaheim and has had stints since with the Norfolk Admirals, the San Antonio Rampage and the Texas Stars. He’ll be reunited with former team-mate Philippe Dupuis in Germany in 2016-17.
Simon Gysbers led all defenseman on the team in scoring during 2011-12 but spent just one more season in Toronto before heading for pastures anew. Stints for Ilves and TPS (Liiga) and Djurgårdens IF (SHL) were followed by a solitary year in the KHL for Medvescak Zagreb. Gysbers is off to Germany now after signing with the wonderfully-named Schwenninger Wild Wings.
Will Acton departed Toronto in 2013, following his father (appointed as a coach) to Edmonton. He suited up briefly for the Oilers but mostly for the Oklahoma City Barons before a trade to Vancouver, where he joined their AHL affiliate in Utica. Acton spent 2015-16 playing for the Schwenninger Wild Wings and will be glad to welcome a familiar face to the team in Simon Gysbers this season.
Acquired from Syracuse, Nicolas Deschamps accrued 30 points in 40 regular season games in 2011-12. Traded to Washington the following season, Deschamps played two seasons for Hershey Bears before heading to Europe. Remarkably, the Quebec native plied his trade for five teams during 2014-15, including the Kärpät (Liiga), Straubing Tigers (DEL), Vienna Capitals (EBEL), Syracuse Crunch and the Florida Everblades. Deschamps will return to Europe for 2016-17 after signing with Swedish team IK Oskarshamn.
Once skating shifts opposite Phil Kessel in Toronto, Joey Crabb has lived a varied hockey life since his time as a Leaf — two stints in the NHL for Washington and Florida; three AHL clubs in Hershey, San Antonio and Hartford, and one ECHL spell with Alaska Aces. Crabb spent last season with Växjö Lakers HC and he’ll remain in the SHL after signing for Frölunda HC.
Drew Paris is another former Marlies player plying his trade in Sweden during 16-17.
After three seasons in Germany, this will be the defenceman’s second consecutive year in Sweden and his first for Modo.
Czech defenseman Juraj Mikus — a fifth round pick of the Leafs in 2007 — has been playing hockey back in his homeland since departing North America. After two seasons with KHL team HC Lev Praha, Mikus enters his third year with Czech league team HC Sparta Praha.
Darryl Boyce is perhaps best known in Toronto for suffering a horrific freak facial injury after a collision with the hole in the glass where the photographers are positioned. The PEI native has bounced around since his time in Toronto, spending time with Columbus, Hamilton, Springfield and three separate stints with Finnish team JYP. His next port of call will be in Germany with ERC Ingolstadt.
Dale Mitchell suited up just twice for the Marlies in 2011-12 and had spells in the ECHL and Austria before settling down in Denmark. The forward is set to play his third consecutive season with the Odense Bulldogs.
Jay Rosehill departed Toronto in the summer of 2012. The enforcer played 33 games for the Norfolk Admirals before Anaheim traded him to Philadelphia. He suited up 45 times for the Flyers in 2013-14 in what was surely his last stint in the NHL. Rosehill spent the past two seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms but is another to head across the ocean, signing for Scottish Elite League team Braehead Clan.
Jussi Rynnäs is back where he started in his native Finland. The goaltender headed back in 2013 to play for Kärpät but returned the following season for another crack at the NHL. Two games with the Dallas Stars was as good as it would get for Rynnäs, who spent the majority of his time with Texas in the AHL. Rynnäs joined KHL team Ak Bars Kazan last season and will return for 2016-17.
Still in Toronto
A then-21-year-old Nazem Kadri was a top performer for the Marlies during 2011-12. Notching 40 points in 48 regular season games, he added a further 10 in 11 post-season outings. A return to the Marlies in 2012-13 was purely due to the NHL lockout. Kadri’s gone on to become a legitimate top six forward for the Maple Leafs.
Jake Gardiner, also 21 at that time, was a late addition to the Marlies roster having just played a successful rookie NHL season. The defenseman played in all 17 playoff games, netting twice and recording nine assists. Like Kadri, he only returned to the Marlies due to the lockout, helping himself to ten goals and 31 points in 43 games before joining the Leafs for good.
Josh Leivo was fresh out of just his second year of junior with Sudbury Wolves when he made his late season debut for the Marlies on April 6. He appeared in one game, a 4-2 Toronto win over Grand Rapids, in 2011-12. Since then, Leivo has put up 124 points in 165 AHL regular season games and a further 27 in 35 playoff games. The 23-year-old winger signed a two-year deal with the Leafs this summer after his entry-level contract expired.
