The Toronto Maple Leafs have recently re-acquired Nicolas Mattinen who used to be a member of the team nearly a decade ago. At 6-foot-5, he is a huge presence.

The Maple Leafs signed Nicolas Mattinen in April 2024, which will be his second stint with the franchise. He stands at a staggering 6-foot-5, and that’s off skates. He is also 225 pounds, so he will be a force to be reckoned with on the ice by the opposing team.

Nicolas Mattinen has spent the last few years playing in the U-Sports, the AHL, in Austria and his most recent league was the DEL. He was drafted by the Leafs eight years ago in 2016 during the 6th round, and has returned to his old stomping grounds. Mattinen has never played a single NHL game in his career, and at age 26, he is hoping to finally get a break and make it to the big leagues.

The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke recently sat down with Nicolas Mattinen to discuss the start of his career and how he has been led back to where it all began, Toronto.

Nicolas Mattinen is coming off two very solid seasons in Austria and in the DEL. Over the last two years, he’s played in a total of 98 games and racked up 88 points. The Leafs are in desperate need of a right-handed defenseman who has tremendous size and grit, so Mattinen’s arrival could not have come at a greater time.

Sure, he doesn’t have NHL experience yet, but he has spent so much time overseas and has gained so much professional hockey experience that he can definitely bring some of that to the current Leafs team if he gets called upon to fill in. He will likely get his shot with the team if someone goes down to injury, which unfortunately usually always happens in the NHL.

The AHL’s Toronto Marlies are likely where Nicolas Mattinen is going to begin his season in the fall, however if something goes wrong and the Leafs require a defenseman to be called up, he will definitely be one of the first names the team will be calling up.