The Marlies are doing their best to keep busy in their extended offseason, and today announced that they are bringing back one of their strong bottom six performers…

The 22 year old is a 6’5 center that was a solid offensive player at the junior hockey level who is transitioning into a strong bottom six forward in the pro ranks. In many ways he’s similar to Freddie Gauthier, but there is more of a physical upside that could be tapped into that could make him worthy of a SPC in a year or two.

I’ve always liked Elynuik, maybe not as much as the Canes when they reached to draft him 74th overall in 2016, but as a big player in the WHL he was dominant. Additionally I was a fan of his Dad, Pat, who played on the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 and owned a sports card shop within biking distance of my house growing up. Keeping Elynuik in the Leafs organization allows me to continue to easily go to those happy memories of BMXing across Winnipeg for a pack of 1990 Score Hockey and getting Pat Elynuik to sign his cards if he was in. So for that reason along I think the signing is worth it, but don’t doubt we’ll continue to see development in Hudson’s game as well.