The Toronto Marlies announced today that the hockey club has signed defenceman Jonny Tychonick to a two-year AHL contract through the 2023-24 season.

Tychonick, 23, recorded 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists) through 35 games with the University of Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA). The Calgary native appeared in 134 games with the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the University of North Dakota, collecting 57 points (17 goals, 40 assists) through five seasons.

Tychonick is a left-shooting defender. He’s 6’ tall and listed at 177 lbs (likely from his draft information). He was drafted 48th overall by the Senators in 2018. He continued at the University of Nebraska-Omaha for five years, and his rights have expired with Ottawa.

Tychonick had a pile of assists coming into his draft year, making him not the first (or last) defender drafted on points earned in a junior league.

The Marlies always need defenders, and Tychonick will be joined in short order by other new players coming in, mostly on try-out deals. By signing him to a two-year deal, the Marlies seem very confident that Tychonick has things to offer that aren’t always going to end in goals.

Sportsnet did a series on prospects last December, and I read the one on the Leafs drafted players. It was interesting, if not always how I saw things, and is full of the untempered optimism that marks most discussion of prospects. Here is the Ottawa report on Tychonick:

Tychonick was projected to be a prospect who could potentially run an NHL power play when he was drafted. He’s always played quick and fast. He took much more risk when he was younger. His game, as it sits right now, still projects to possibly provide some organizational depth.

Tychonick is used in all situations at Omaha and logs around 20 minutes of ice time per game on average. His defending, overall, is average but he is energetic and does jump to take away time and space effectively. In the offensive zone he tends to remain up top and make plays walking the blue line. He’s more of a distributor than a shooter.

That projection was based entirely on that BCHL season, and seems very optimistic in hindsight. There’s a shotplot in the article for Tychonick, and it clearly shows all of his shots coming from the blueline (it’s also a 10-game sample).

As an AHL prospect, though, he should be very welcome on a team that is playoff bound and hoping for a deep run. Which holds true even if he ends up on the Growlers.

Toronto Marlies