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Tonight, the Leafs dipped into the NCAA free agency well and signed one of the better and younger players available:
🖊 We’ve signed forward Jacob Quillan to a two-year entry-level contract
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) April 2, 2024
The signing is for next season, so it will not burn a year of his ELC already. However, this allows him to sign an ATO so he can be eligible for the AHL playoffs:
Quillan will join AHL Marlies on an ATO for rest of this season https://t.co/auaBlQlBxo
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 2, 2024
Quillan was the first line center for Quinnipiac, who had been one of the top performing teams in the NCAA the past few years. If that name and that school sounds familiar, it's because they won the NCAA championship last year and Quillan was the guy who scored the overtime winning goal to break Matthew Knies' and Minnesota's hearts.
Jacob Quillan called game! Zach Metsa (FA) and Sam Lipkin (#Yotes) the assists.@QU_MIH wins the NCAA Championship game 3-2 in overtime.#MFrozenFour pic.twitter.com/s2EnsTOKqf
— EP Rinkside (@EPRinkside) April 9, 2023
Training camp next year may be a bit awkward for THAT reunion... hopefully Quillan brings Knies an apology/introductory gift to soothe the tensions.
Actually, it looks like Quillan has made it a habit of scoring overtime goals to win championships. He did the same thing when he was in the BCHL:
This year, Quillan became Quinnipiac's top line center and lead the team in even strength points. He had a career high in points as well, with 17 goals and 46 points in 39 games – good for 2nd on the team and tied for 18th in the entire NCAA. For an NCAA free agent, he is relatively young too – he just turned 22 in February, making him a similar age as Knies and Robertson.
Here's a quick scouting report from EP Rinkside's NCAA free agency guide:
Skate hard, find the open teammate, and create space – that’s Quillan’s game. He subtly wins body position and sets picks across the ice, creating lanes for his teammates. With the puck, he’s the transition driver on his line with his weaving rushes, give-and-goes, and pace. At times, Quillan manipulates the defence to create openings. Prowess in the dot, penalty kill skills, and off-puck defensive awareness complete his skill set.
Quillan has several pathways to the NHL, but all roughly fill similar roles: Bottom-six, likely fourth-line roles where adapts to the needs of the coaching staff and his teammates. A final NCAA year might benefit his game, but he has one of the best shots of becoming an NHLer in this group.
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Adding some insider news, since Seravelli is directly addressing a thought I had about wanting Graf more before this news.
Mentioned this today: some scouts believe Quillan has more #NHL upside than Quinnipiac teammate Collin Graf, who is also a highly touted undrafted free agent.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 2, 2024
Teams believe Graf is sticking in the East. He’s received a ton of interest - more teams have made offers than not. https://t.co/ctGCH11XV7
Welcome to Toronto, Jacob!
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