Matt Frattin Is He a Bust?
For a player who was once traded for both Jonathan Bernier and Marian Gaborik, who led the entire nation in scoring while leading his team to a Final Four appearance in college, one would expect Matt Frattin to be a pretty valuable chip. While Frattin has proved valuable on the trading block, his value on the ice has never reached the point many thought it would and he’s on the verge of being cut from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Matt Frattin was drafted 99th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2007 draft but didn’t sign with the Leafs until 2011 because of his commitment to the University of North Dakota. In 2010-2011 Frattin led the NCAA division l with 36 goals and 60 points. Those 36 goals in his senior season where more than he’d scored in his previous three seasons combined.
In the WCHA playoffs that season he led the way scoring two game-winning goals en route to a NCAA Frozen Four appearance. For his efforts in his final season with North Dakota he was a Hobey Baker finalist and was named the WCHA player of the year. Immediately following that season he signed a deal with the Leafs and scored his first goal just weeks later.
Things seemed to be going great for the college standout after an impressive senior season and an NHL team excited to see his potential.
In 2011-2012 Matt Frattin split the season between the NHL with the Leafs and the AHL with the Marlies. With the Leafs he scored 8 goals for 15 points in 56 game, while he recorded 14 goals in 23 games with the Marlies. For his first full season with the Leafs it seemed like a solid season and people were once again excited to see him take that next step.
However, he was one of the Leafs last cuts and was sent down to the Marlies for 2013. He showed that was a mistake with 17 points in 21 games to kick off the year with the Marlies. He earned a call-up to the Maple Leafs where he kept his scoring streak going with 13 points in 25 games, including 7 goals in a 10 game span.
He was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings where he only managed to net 2 goals on 60 shots in 40 games with the Stanley Cup Champions and was quickly traded away to the Columbus Blue Jackets where he didn’t fare much better. He didn’t record a goal with the Blue Jackets and had just 1 point over his 4 games.
The Leafs re-acquired Matt Frattin from the Blue Jackets in exchange for Jerry D’Amigo to make the trade a full circle. In short Frattin was traded for the Leafs new number-one goaltender, the Kings missing piece en route to a Stanley Cup and a career AHLer. On the trading block he’s been one heck of an asset, but he just hasn’t been able to put it together at the NHL level.
In the words of his head coach Randy Carlyle, Matt Frattin has had a “mediocre camp” with the Leafs this year and is about to lose his spot on the Leafs to Brandon Kozun. You know you’ve had a bad training camp when your own head coach feels bad for you and that’s exactly what Carlyle said when talking about Frattin’s camp.
"” [Frattin] has had, I would say, a mediocre camp. Needs to find a way to regenerate some enthusiasm. I feel sorry for him right now. The puck’s not his friend.” ~ Head coach Randy Carlyle on Frattin"
Despite inconsistency since leaving college, the Leafs have tried hard to find room for the 26 year-old forward on their roster this season as he looks to bounce back from a rough season. Frattin to some has always shown potential, while others believe it wasn’t just his camp that’s was mediocre.
Matt Frattin has some sweet speed and an even sweeter wrist shot, but the point-per-game scoring he produced in college and the AHL has yet to transfer to the NHL; and at this point it may never. With Frattin likely hitting the waivers in the next couple of days does anyone pick him up for yet another chance?
Is it time to stop dreaming of Matt Frattin being a 30 goal scorer in the NHL? What do you make of him?