On Thursday, we learned that a former Maple Leaf, Nick Ritchie, had inked a professional tryout agreement with the St. Louis Blues. Now, this evening, another ex-Leaf has signed a PTO of his own, this time in Carolina.
Per Canes reporter Walt Ruff, the Hurricanes have signed depth winger and former Leafs 4th liner Zach Aston-Reese to a PTO ahead of training camp, which marks the 7th player they've inked to a PTO in recent weeks. The other 6 players are Kieffer Bellows, Cory Conacher, Jayden Halbgewachs, Brendan Perlini, Nick Shore, and Nathan Beaulieu.
Aston-Reese attended Maple Leafs training camp on a PTO last summer and successfully turned his opportunity into a 1-year contract with the team. He suited up in 77 games for the Buds during the regular season, tallying 10 goals and 4 assists for a total of 14 points over that span. He also appeared in 6 playoff games, scoring just 1 goal.
If successful in his PTO attempt, Aston-Reese will join another member of last year's Leafs team in Carolina, as Michael Bunting also signed a contract with the club earlier this summer as a UFA.
