Maple Leafs bring back a forward familiar to the organization on a PTO

The Toronto Marlies signed forward Matthew Barbolini to a professional tryout Monday, ahead of training camp.

Barbolini's two-year contract expired this summer. Instead of a new deal, he's fighting for a job on a tryout basis.

He put up nine goals and 18 assists in 62 games with the Marlies last season, finishing at minus-nine.

His season ended early, too. Barbolini suffered an upper-body injury on April 19 in Toronto's regular-season finale and missed the entire Calder Cup playoff run.

Across three seasons with the Marlies, the 26-year-old has 13 goals and 29 assists in 122 games.

He first turned pro in 2023-24, closing that season with nine games on a tryout and one assist, then locking down a two-year contract that March following four seasons at Miami University.

At 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds, Barbolini earned a Hobey Baker Award nomination after posting 25 points in 31 games during his senior year with the RedHawks.

Marlies retool AHL roster with four signings this week

Barbolini joins Reese Johnson, Timofei Obvintsev and Jackson Kunz as the latest names added to the Marlies' lineup this week.

Johnson signed a two-year deal after posting six goals and nine assists in 47 games last season, then added one goal in 15 playoff games.

Obvintsev, a fifth-round pick in 2024, went 1-3-0 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage in six games with Gornak-UGMK of the VHL.

With Dennis Hildeby traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning this offseason, the crease behind Artur Akhtyamov is open, and Obvintsev could be first in line.

Kunz, a 2020 fourth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks, spent last season in the ECHL with Kalamazoo and carries four assists and a minus-six rating over 23 career AHL games.

A minus-nine season and a playoff no-show is a rough way to walk into a tryout. Barbolini has training camp to prove the Marlies made the right call giving him another look.