Maple Leafs Add To Their Prospect Pool with Late-Night Signing of 6'2, 205-Pound Winger

The Maple Leafs have been very active in the NCAA free agent market this season, which has helped them to replenish their prospect pool after dealing a couple of really solid pieces.

It began with the signing of defenceman John Prokop, before they out-bid the Tampa Bay Lightning and signed highly touted centre Luke Haymes.

Late on Saturday evening, after one of their best games of the season, the Leafs announced that they had dipped into the NCAA free agent pool again, signing 23-year-old Arizona State winger Ryan Kirwan to a two-year AHL contract.

During the second intermission, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported during his "Saturday Headlines" that the Leafs were looking at the 6'2, 205-pounder.

The New York native wrapped up his fourth NCAA season, and first with ASU with 26 goals and 13 assists in 37 games.

The 23-year-old spent his three previous NCAA seasons with Penn State collecting 34 goals and 69 points over 100 games.

After dealing Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin in deadline deals, the Leafs quickly replaced them with a pair of prospects in Haymes and Kirwan that fit into the prototypical Brad Treliving and Craig Berube mold that prefers a combination of size, skill and physicality.

Whether either of them will turn into NHLers remains to be seen, but it is nice to see the Leafs replenish their severely slim prospect pool with players that have immediately jumped into the AHL.