Marlies sign training camp invite Mackenzie Skapski to an AHL contract

According to the AHL transactions page today, the Toronto Marlies have signed goalie Mackenzie Skapski to an AHL contract and loaned him to the Orlando Solar Bears.

The Solar Bears have struggled to keep the net filled this year. They have Cal Heeter, also signed to an AHL deal, and they had Matt Hackett, who was on an ECHL deal. Hackett has left the organization, and one loaner goalie has come and gone.

With a game on the schedule for tomorrow, the Solar Bears needed someone at the very least as backup.

The Marlies chose to add a goalie they invited to training camp in Skapski, going a few steps beyond “very least”.  Skapski, 23, has pro experience at all three levels in the Rangers organization.  He played most of last year in the ECHL, and he was sitting as an unsigned free agent.

This is an area the Leafs organization is lacking in.  They have three goalies with higher level success in Calvin Pickard, Garret Sparks and Kasimir Kaskisuo.  They are all 24 or 25.  Next, there are two teenagers in Joseph Woll and Ian Scott. They had nothing in between on NHL or AHL contracts.

Skapski might not be the prospect the Rangers had hoped when they drafted him, but he is a start at filling that age gap.  He is, at the very least, a serious attempt to fill the net in Orlando and provide an emergency recall for the Marlies. He also gets the opportunity to aim at improving his performance and becoming a full-time AHL goalie.

Mackenzie Skapski