The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that the hockey club has signed forward Curtis Douglas to a future two-year, entry-level contract. The average annual value of the contract is $837,500.

Douglas, 22, has skated in 49 games with the Toronto Marlies this season where he has recorded 27 points (8G, 19A). The Oakville, Ont. product has posted 31 points (9G, 22A) through 60 career AHL games split between Toronto and the Belleville Senators. Prior to turning pro, Douglas spent five seasons in the OHL split between the Windsor Spitfires and Barrie Colts. Douglas appeared in 247 career regular season OHL games and posted 168 points (83G, 85A) while adding four points (1G, 3A) in 10 playoff games.

Douglas was selected by Dallas in the fourth round (106th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

Douglas’s contract is two years under the CBA rules because of his age. While he was drafted by the Stars, they never signed him and his rights expired. Last season, after finishing in the OHL, he played 11 games for the Belleville Senators on an ATO, and then played in Linz in one of the lower-level European leagues. The Marlies signed him to an AHL deal this season, and they obviously consider him a project worthy of working on.

He plays regularly on the Marlies, usually in a middle-six role. The only player who has played more games than him is the other project, Mikhail Abramov, who has very similar points totals. While Douglas’s personal goal-scoring isn’t very exciting, he is just outside the top five leaders in points on the team. He doesn’t seem to shoot a lot, and I think it’s obvious, his role is to be a big forechecker who makes space for his linemates.

Douglas is 6’9” and well over 200 lbs. In the very limited amount I’ve seen of him, he’s impossible to move off the boards unless you knock him down, and his stride length is so long, his skating speed stands up to the AHL level of competition.

He is the very antithesis of what is thought of as the traditional Marlies or Dubas player, but the team obviously likes him and will help him to succeed any way they can.

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Toronto Marlies