Julien BriseBois’ attempt to rebuild the 2022-23 Toronto Marlies roster continued on Monday as he claimed Curtis Douglas off of waivers from the Utah Mammoth. Douglas, a 6’9″, 242 lb. forward, was teammates in Toronto with Nick Abruzzese and Pontus Holmberg during the season the Marlies were knocked out of the playoffs in the North Division Finals by Rochester. Since then, the center has spent the last three seasons with the Tucson Roadrunners after he was traded for Conor Timmons in 2022.
It’s an interesting move for the Lightning, who had seemingly finalized their roster after putting Declan Carlile on waivers on Sunday (it appears he cleared). However, according to PuckPedia, Zemgus Girgensons is going to join Nick Paul on injured reserve to start the season, which opens up a spot for the towering forward to join the team. Girgensons was the recipient of the boarding penalty that caused the ejection of Carter Verhaeghe from Saturday’s game. The Lightning would still need to make another move in order to get under the salary cap.
Rather than call up one of their forwards, the Lightning chose to take a flyer on Douglas, who was originally drafted by Dallas in the fourth round of the 2018 draft. He never signed with the Stars, and after a year with the Linz Steel Wings in Austria, he signed an AHL deal with the Marlies in 2021. He put up 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 67 games that season which earned him a two-year, entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs.
He only appeared in 13 games the following season for the Marlies, notching one assist, prior to the deal that sent him westward. Since joining the Roadrunners he’s been a steady 20-point player that racks up the penalty minutes (over 100 in each of his last three seasons).
Since he was a Marlie, we reached out to our old friend Hardev for his recollections of Douglas’ time in Toronto. Here is what Mr. Lad had to say,
“Good ol’ Douglas Fir! He’s a safe, reliable 4C. He’s mobile for his size, but not very mobile overall. He works hard and won’t do anything offensively.”
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but most reports on him state that he’s a solid AHL player. It’s obvious that Douglas adds some size and sandpaper to the Lightning roster as it stands right now. How long he stays with the team will depend on the injuries to Girgensons and Nick Paul. Once they’re healthy, it’s a good chance that he’s back on the waiver wire. If he clears, he should be a solid veteran addition to the Crunch roster.
The 25-year-old is in the final year of a two-year, two-way contract that carriers a NHL cap hit of $775,00 and a minor-league salary of $325,000. As he has more than three years of professional hockey under his belt he would be a Group VI Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the season unless he appears in 80 NHL games this season.
