Report: Leafs Invite Rimouski’s Joly to Training Camp

According to TVA Sports, the Toronto Maple Leafs have invited the Rimouski Oceanic’s Michael Joly to their next training camp.

Joly is a 5’11, 172lb right winger who has spent three seasons with the Oceanic. The undrafted 20-year old scored 26 goals and 45 points in 45 regular season games this year, with another 21 points in 20 games on route to a QMJHL Championship. In the MasterCard Memorial Cup, Joly added another six points in four games.

You have to imagine that the Leafs organization has seen a lot of Joly over the years; they heavily scouted his teammate Frederik Gauthier back in 2012-13 before selecting him in the first round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, and would have continued to keep tabs on him since. Joly must have stood out in those viewings.

It’s not like the Leafs have signed Joly to an entry-level contract, so we shouldn’t necessarily start penciling his name into any lineups just yet. Still, it will be interesting to see what other young and undrafted free agents receive an invite to training camp. I imagine a number of them will receive AHL contracts at the very least, playing into Assistant GM Kyle Dubas’s view of a deep, multi-tiered prospect system. 

From swell guy Jeff Marek…

Glad to see that Toronto continues to steal things from the Buffalo Sabres.