Maple Leafs Organization Reportedly Loses Defenseman to European Team

It had been reported about a month ago that several depth players from the Toronto Marlies were being linked to Adler Mannheim of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in Germany.

Zach Solow, Joseph Blandisi, and Nicolas Mattinen were the trio that had drawn interest from the German club, and on Tuesday, it was reported that Mattinen is indeed heading back to his roots after having spent a season in the DEL prior to re-joining the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

Mattinen was originally drafted by the Leafs in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and spent 4 years in the OHL before jetting off to the Ontario University Athletics league for 2 seasons. He finally made his professional debut in 2021-22 with the Laval Rocket of the AHL before 2 amazing seasons in Europe, one of which led him to win the MVP honours in 2023-24.

He notched 42 points in 46 games for VSV EC in Austria in 2022-23 before a 16-goal and 46-point season in 52 games the following year for Straubing Tigers where he was named the player of the year. He then joined the Marlies after a strong bounce-back but wasn't able to generate much momentum in North America.

Mattinen managed to suit up in 22 games for the Marlies this season, where he added 4 assists and 8 PIMs to go along with a minus-4 rating. It was a near night and day difference from the previous season that saw him dominate the DEL.

The Marlies had utilized Marshall Rifai, Topi Niemela, Cade Webber, William Villeneuve, and Mikko Kokkonen for most of the season with each player topping 50 games played. Mattinen also lost out playing time to Matt Benning, Tommy Miller, and Dakota Mermis, who each saw over 30 games.

Now heading back to Germany, Mattinen will look to build some momentum with his new club, while the Marlies will likely use his roster spot on a variety of players including John Prokop, who they signed out of Union College earlier this year.