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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced yesterday that they have signed forward Mason Marchment to a two-year entry-level contract beginning in 2018-19.

The 23-year-old left-handed winger has been the exception to the rule since signing a ATO with the Toronto Marlies at the end of his junior career in 2016. After playing in three AHL games, Marchment was one of the very few signed to a try-out contract who was offered an AHL contract. For the past two seasons, the son of former Leaf Bryan Marchment has been signed to an AHL-only deal.

Last season, Marchment mainly played for the Orlando Solar Bears where he produced 20 points, including 14 goals, in 35 games. The winger went on to produce a further 11 points in seven playoff games for the ECHL outfit. Marchment’s time in the AHL was limited to nine games in 2016-17, during which he tallied his first goal but still looked like a work in progress.

There’s certainly been a level of commitment and trust between player and the Toronto organization in regards to Marchment’s journey to this point. The tools are there, and Marchment provides something different compared to most of the wingers on the Marlies — he has size, strength and reach, and has been working diligently on other aspects of his game like his puck skills and skating stride. The work put in off the ice as well as on it last season has certainly paid dividends this year, with only one minor setback due to an injury.

The Uxbridge native accumulated 11 points in nine games to begin the year, prospering alongside Ben Smith and not exclusively because of the latter’s abilities in the AHL. An absence of six weeks due to injury was not ideal, but it certainly hasn’t set him back significantly — he currently sits eleventh in team scoring with 21 points through 37 games in his rookie season. Among players still currently on the active roster, Marchment is ranked fifth in points per game (0.57), which is better than Dmytro Timashov, for example.

That’s excellent offensive production for a player who has exclusively been given a bottom six role and sporadic opportunities on the power play. Eight of his nine goals this season have been scored at even strength, while points at even strength account for 56% of his total production.

With Kerby Rychel traded away in the Tomas Plekanec deal, Sheldon Keefe has provided Marchment with a regular net-presence role on the power play. This has proven beneficial for the second-year professional, whose eight power play points — including seven assists (ranked third on the Marlies) — now trail only Chris Mueller, Andreas Johnsson and Kerby Rychel in that category.

The combination of his size, strength and finishing ability was on display in the Marlies‘ recent win against Providence. He leaps high to catch a puck thrown in by Calle Rosen before shrugging off the attention of a Bruins players and going on to score with a quality wrist shot.

Still technically a rookie in the eyes of the AHL due to the number of games played, Marchment is far from a sure thing to develop into an NHL regular, but he’s made some giant strides forward in the last two seasons to the point where Leafs management has identified him as a long-term prospect with a chance at developing into a bottom-six forward at the next level.

Marchment’s evolution also speaks to the ongoing strategy Marlies management has undertaken under GM Kyle Dubas, taking full advantage of Amateur Try Out Agreements and American Hockey League contracts — for which there are no limits as far as roster size or AHL player contracts — to bring in potentially overlooked young talent out of the NCAA and major junior ranks, quickly integrate them into the organization’s well-funded development system, and see if any NHL potential can be unearthed.

Most won’t stick, but the odd one will. This approach is what led to Justin Holl’s ascension into an NHL depth option, and the process has continued with a number of new additions on ATOs this Spring, including Evan Buitenhuis, Derian Plouffe, Josh Kestner, Jesper Lindgren (a Leafs draft pick), and most recently, Scott Pooley.