Maple Leafs Development Camp invitee scores himself a deal with the organization

Just a couple of short summers ago, Toronto's own Landon Cato was invited to take part in Leafs Development Camp, which he attended in hopes to picking up some valuable tools that he could apply to help him in his transition from junior hockey to the professional ranks.

After 123 games in the OHL over the previous 3 seasons with the Niagara IceDogs, Cato finally made the jump to the ECHL last year, skating in 32 games with the Cincinnati Cyclones. The 6'2 defenseman tallied just 3 points in 32 games, but he believes that the experience was invaluable. Now, in signing his new deal with the Leafs' new ECHL affiliate, Cato believes he's ready to take the next step.

Leafs Nation News believes that Cato, the former IceDogs captain, stands a reasonably good chance of actually earning himself an AHL deal with the Toronto Marlies if he can continue to round out his game.

As a right-shot defenseman with good size, Cato does have a path available to him to ascend through the ranks. He has shown tangible signs of improvement in recent years, but will really have to sculpt his 200-foot game if he wants to take the next step in his career as a pro.

We saw Justin Holl turn an ECHL deal into an eventual NHL career, so anything is possible, but the odds are certainly stacked against the 21-year-old Cato and it will be up to him and him alone to defy those odds.

Source: Cycloneshockey.com
LANDON CATO BACK IN A 'CLONES UNIFORM

Source for stats: HockeyDB
Landon Cato stats and bio