As one Newfoundlander prepares to join the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization, another is extending his stay in the Maple Leafs system.
On Saturday, the same day The Telegram reported the Leafs would be hiring Fermeuse native Ryane Clowe as head coach of their ECHL affiliate, the Newfoundland Growlers, came word St. John’s native Colin Greening was signing a one-year contract that would keep him with the Maple Leafs’ AHL farm team, the Toronto Marlies.
Greening made the announcement to reporters as he and the Marlies celebrated the team’s Calder Cup victory that had come two days before with a Game 7 win over the Texas Stars.
The veteran forward, who has played the last two seasons with the Marlies, had 16 goals and 29 points in 73 games in 2017-18 and followed up with four goals and nine points in 20 playoff contests. What’s more, the 32-year-old assistant captain was lauded for his leadership and steadying influence in the dressing room.
Greening operated under a one-year $750,000 NHL contract last season, but this will be a straight minor-league pact.
“It’s an AHL deal for one year. It’s strictly with the Marlies,” Greening told The Telegram Sunday.
Financial details have not been released.
The structure of the deal means Greening could technically play with the Growlers, something that was not possible when he was signed to an NHL contract. However, it’s clear he was not re-signed to play in the ECHL but to continue to play a significant role for the Marlies as they look to capture back-to-back AHL championships.
If that happened, Greening would become the only Newfoundlander with three Calder Cups. As it stands, he and Grand Falls native Don Howse, who won back to-back AHL crowns with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs in the 1970s, are the only ones from this province to have done it twice.
Greening, who won his first Calder Cup in 2010 as a professional rookie with the Binghamton Senators, said he hopes to be able to bring the trophy to Newfoundland this summer.
“(I’m) trying to figure that out now,” he answered when asked if and when that might happen.
Twitter: @telybrendan
