(Photo: Melissa Kania)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed their first round draft pick, Morgan Rielly. Rielly was selected fifth overall by the Leafs at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, held in Pittsburgh, PA. The 18-year-old missed the majority of last season due to a knee injury; in the 18 games he did play, he had eighteen points (3-15).

The defenseman will represent Canada at the 2012 Canada-Russia Challenge in Yaroslavl, Russia and Halifax, Nova Scotia from August 8-14.

(Photo: Natalie Litz/flickr)

Alright – a lot has happened over the past few days for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Marlies, so this post is a catch-all to get everyone up to speed on everything that’s happened lately.- First, in case you missed it, the Leafs hired former NHLer Steve Staios as a member of the management team. The 39-year-old Hamilton native played 1,001 NHL games with a number of teams (BOS, VAN, ATL, EDM, CGY, NYI). As a player development advisor, Staios will work with prospects and current Leafs players, and provide scouting input on current NHLers in other teams.

- The Leafs re-signed Marlies defenseman Mark Fraser, who spent the majority of last season with the Syracuse Crunch before being traded to the Leafs organization on February 27. The 25-year-old defenseman has played 98 NHL games throughout his career and signed a one-year deal with Toronto.

- The Leafs also re-signed two other Marlies players: forwards Mike Zigomanis and Will Acton. Terms and lengths of the deals were not specified in a press release on the Marlies’ website. Zigomanis, a 31-year-old Toronto native, has spent the past two seasons with the Marlies and has 108 points in 132 games in that stretch. Acton, 25, from Stoufville, also just finished up his second season with Toronto. He joined the Marlies after his time at Lake Superior State University and last season, had seven goals and nine assists in 69 games.

(Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Keith Aucoin is one of your newest Toronto Maple Leafs – but how much do you REALLY know about him? Up until this point, he’s spent the majority of his NHL career with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals – and now, he’s ready for the Northeast Division.Aucoin, 33, is a native of Waltham, Massachusetts. He’s a center and winger who was never drafted – instead, he played four years of college hockey at Norwich University. In his time at Norwich, he scored 114 goals and 124 assists in 116 games.

After graduating, Aucoin jumped around a bit. The 2001-02 season was spent with the Icemen (UHL), Everblades (ECHL) and Lock Monsters (AHL). He spent all of the next season with the AHL’s Providence Bruins before joining the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the AHL for the 2003-04 season.

Aucoin returned to Providence the following year, then went back to Lowell of the AHL and made his NHL debut in the 2005-06 season with the Carolina Hurricanes. It was certainly a disheartening season, as he played just six games there and was a healthy scratch for the playoffs. The Hurricanes proceeded to win the Stanley Cup, and Aucoin got a championship ring – but his name does not appear on the Cup, as he didn’t play enough games to qualify.

He returned to the AHL for the majority of the 2006-07 season before more fully breaking into the NHL the next year. He split the season – 38 games in each league – with Carolina and Albany.

After that, he joined the Washington Capitals organization, and would spend the following seasons back and forth between Washington and its affiliate, the Hershey Bears.

In 27 games with the Capitals last season, Aucoin had three goals and eight assists in 27 games. He also played in 14 playoff games. In addition, he also played 43 games with Hershey, where he scored 11 goals and 59 assists in 43 games.

Then, on July 24, he signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs – a one-year, two-way deal that will allow him to play in either the NHL or AHL. (Oh, by the way – his AHL experience shouldn’t be overlooked. He was the Most Valuable Player of the year in 2010 and played on the All-Star team in 2009.)

While clearly no one can predict what effect Aucoin will have on the Leafs this upcoming season – at least now you know a little more about the new addition.

(Photo: M Richter/Flickr)

The Toronto Maple Leafs recently announced the signing of three players: Keith Aucoin, Simon Gysbers and Dylan Yeo.

Aucoin, 33, split last season between the Washington Capitals and the Hershey Bears. He’s also played with the Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats in the past.

In 27 NHL games, Aucoin had three goals and eight assists; meanwhile, in 43 AHL games, he scored 11 goals and 59 assists.

Gysbers, 25, has spent parts of the past three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. In 142 games, the defenseman has scored 12 goals and 49 assists, garnered 54 penalty minutes and earned an overall plus-1 rating in his AHL career.

The Richmond Hill native (3 miles from the Toronto city limit) also played four years of college hockey with Lake Superior State University in the CCHA from 2006 until 2010.

Aucoin and Gysbers were both signed to one-year contracts.

Yeo, 25, was never drafted by an NHL team, but has made his way around the minor leagues. The Prince Albert native spent last season with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons, where he had five goals and eight assists in 48 games. He’s also played with Manitoba and Hershey of the AHL, as well as Victoria, South Carolina and Ontario of the ECHL.

Terms of the deal are unknown at this time.

(Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

It’s easy to focus on the statistics for an NHL team. How many goals did ‘x’ player score? What was his plus-minus? How much ice time did this player see, or that one? But sometimes, it’s good to look at how the team came together, and how it was built – so let’s do that now, for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

As you can see by the above graphic, the majority of the players on the Toronto Maple Leafs were acquired via either trade or free agency – but were the Toronto Marlies also made this way? Indeed, the majority of the Marlies’ roster last season wasn’t drafted, but instead acquired via trade or free agency.

(Photo: Dinur Blum/flickr)

Two alumni games will now be held as  part of a celebration leading up to the Winter Classic featuring the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over 100 alumni from both teams will compete in the 2012 Maple Leafs vs. Red Wings Alumni Showdown at Conamerica Park on December 31.Let’s take a look at some members of the projected roster for the Maple Leafs, as well as their storied history as part of the Leafs’ past. (Note: These numbers reflect only the player’s time with the Leafs.)

Darryl Sittler (Kitchener, ON); Centre, 1970-1982
844 games, 389 goals, 527 assists, 916 points, 763 PIM

Rick Vaive (Ottawa, ON); Right Wing, 1980-1987
534 games, 299 goals, 238 assists, 537 points, 940 PIM

Darcy Tucker (Castor, AB); Winger, 2000-2008
531 games, 148 goals, 171 assists, 319 points, 756 PIM

Felix Potvin (Anjou, QC); Goaltender; 1991-1998
369 games, 160 wins, 149 losses, 49 ties, 21407 minutes

Doug Gilmour (Kingston, ON); 1992-1997
392 games, 131 goals, 321 assists, 452 points, 386 PIM

Curtis Joseph (Keswick, ON); Goaltender; 1998-2002, 2008-2009
270 games, 138 wins, 97 losses, 28 ties, 15350 minutes

Johnny Bower (Prince Albert, SK); Goaltender; 1958-1970
475 games, 219 wins, 160 losses, 79 ties, 27396 minutes

Dave Andreychuk (Hamilton, ON); Left Wing; 1993-1996
223 games, 120 wins, 99 assists, 219 points, 194 PIM

Wendel Clark (Kelvington, SK); Left Wing; 1985-1994, 1996-1998, 2000
608 games, 260 goals, 181 assists, 441 points, 1535 PIM

The alumni games are guaranteed to be a great showdown, with Red Wings greats such as Gordie Howe, Luc Robitaille and Chris Osgood. Tickets for the event will go on sale to season ticket holders August 1 and will be released to the public at a later date.

The 24-year-old native of Munich, West Germany was drafted 111th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft by the Maple Leafs. This past season was his second with the Marlies, and he had 20 points (1-19) in 67 games this season.

Holzer also played two games with the Leafs in 2010-11.

(Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Just over a week after the NHL free agent market opened, the Toronto Maple Leafs have remained one of the quieter teams, landing just two new players and staying inactive since last weekend.

While some teams have certainly been more active on the market (see the Minnesota Wild, who of course landed both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter), the Leafs haven’t been nearly as vocal.

The team signed AHLer Mike Kostka and also added Jay McClement to their roster…. and that’s all, folks, although Toronto still has a number of its own free agents within the system to re-sign.

With some of the ‘big name’ free agents still available and October still about three months away, anything can happen, and any signing can make a significant impact on the Leafs’ roster when the beginning of the season rolls around.

(Photo: Jib/flickr)

Jake Gardiner played a total of 79 games last season, between the AHL and NHL clubs in Toronto. He also played in 17 games of the Calder Cup Finals and as the youngest player on the roster, still has two years remaining in his entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs.

The 22-year-old Minnetonka native joined the Leafs for the first time this season, after initially joining the Marlies toward the end of the 2010-2011 season. Prior to the AHL, Gardiner played for the University of Wisconsin for three years.

During that time, the defenseman had 19 goals and 56 assists. He also represented Team USA at the World Juniors in 2010, winning a gold medal.

After playing ten games with the Marlies, he earned a roster spot on the Leafs’ blueline for the start of this season.

Throughout the year, he played 75 games and had 7 goals and 23 assists in his rookie season. He also saw AHL time, although it was limited – just four games.

Gardiner, a 2008 draft pick by the Anaheim Ducks, came to the Leafs organization on February 9, 2011 in the trade that also brought Joffrey Lupul to town and sent Francois Beauchemin on his way out.

Just over a month later, he signed a three-year entry-level contract, then joined the Leafs this season. Gardiner also scored his first NHL goal this year, against the New York Islanders.

He may be the youngest player on the Leafs’ team now – many of his same-aged comrades are on the Marlies squad instead – but Gardiner has some fire that will definitely prove useful to the Leafs’ blueline this coming season. With free agency pulling the strings, his defensive partners may be mixed up, but either way: Gardiner has a bright NHL future ahead.

The new addition to the blue and white is center Jay McClement of the Colorado Avalanche. The 29-year-old Kingston native spent last year with the Avs, but had spent the majority of his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues organization.

He was drafted by the Blues in 2001, 57th overall.

McClement had 10 goals and 7 assists in 80 games this past season. He ended the season with a minus-8 rating, 31 penalty minutes and an average ice time of 13:45 per game.

He signed a two-year deal with Toronto for an average of $1.5 million per year.

Also on Sunday, the Leafs re-signed two of their own. Toronto Marlies captain Ryan Hamilton signed a one year deal worth $600,000, while Matt Frattin signed a 2-year, one-way deal worth $850,000.

In the ‘now-former’ Leafs category, Colby Armstrong was signed by the Montreal Canadiens, while Joey Crabb signed with the Washington Capitals.