On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, Oakville native Curtis Douglas of the Toronto Marlies signed a two-year NHL contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This contract now means that Curtis has the opportunity to play with the Toronto Maple Leafs next year or the year after and live out his lifelong dream of playing in the NHL with a Maple Leaf crest on his chest.
Douglas’ contract with the Leafs will pay him an annual salary of $837,500.
This year, Douglas has played on an AHL-only contract with the Toronto Marlies where he has scored a total of eight goals, 19 assists and 27 points in 49 games.
Douglas also spent time playing for the Belleville Senators in the AHL where he scored four points in 11 games in the 2020-21 season.
Curtis spent his Ontario Hockey League years playing with both the Barrie Colts and the Windsor Spitfires where he scored 168 points in 247 regular-season games and totalled four points in 10 OHL playoff games.
Curtis was originally drafted in the fourth round by the Dallas Stars in the 2018 NHL draft. This year, playing for the Toronto Marlies, he has accumulated 76 penalty minutes.
He is a player that is not afraid to get his hands dirty and get into a fight in order to bring a spark to his team or stand up for a teammate.
But where Curtis shines is his height and his physicality - Douglas is 6' 8", 249lbs.
Curtis’ size may be his biggest advantage; Marlies reporter for the Leafs Nation Network Nick Barden said, "He could be one of the tallest players to ever play on the Leafs, he’s almost the size of Zedeno Chara and he will also be one of the tallest players in the NHL."
What usually happens with players who are taller is they have a (sometimes unwarranted) reputation for a lack of skating ability that other players have. But according to Barden, Douglas has improved his skating ability throughout the year.
He continues, "Curtis Douglas, from the beginning of the Marlies season to now, has really improved his skating and has in my opinion become pretty fast for his size."
This is an amazing accomplishment for Curtis to be signed to the NHL, and to do it with his boyhood team of the Toronto Maple Leafs makes it just a bit sweeter.