Florida Everblades‘ 5th year defenseman Matt Finn(4) has been enjoying some extended time on three different loans up.
He was first grabbed early by Grand Rapid Griffins, where he netted a his first goal since his 2nd season, then played 4 AHL games with Hartford Wolf Pack and recently was summoned by Ontario Reign for a single appearance.
Originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 2nd round pick in 2012 (#35 overall), he spent his rookie year of limited use, 28 games with affiliate Toronto Marlies getting a goal and 2 assists, but also was dispatched to Orlando Solar Bears.
Before his sophomore campaign he was a small part of a 6-player deal that sent him to New York Islanders, where he played decently with farm club Bridgeport Sound Tigers scoring 6 goals and 8 assists in 33 games with a +4 rating, but also spent time with Kansas City Mavericks and made a strong showing.
The 6’1″ 205 lbs. blue liner would play the majority of his time in the follow up frame in the lower league establishing career high 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points.
Not given a qualifying offer to stay, he next signed with Charlotte Checkers but had an almost season-ending injury that limited his use to 7 games up and 8 down with Florida.
The former two-time Guelph Storm captain, who also helped his team win the 2015 OHL Championship and was a league best plus/minus leader with a +57 probably thought it was nice in Florida and knew he’d be joining a strong club, so signed for 2018/2019, establishing a new best 14 goals, 13 assists and 27 point in a season in much less games and will be a big contributor come ECHL Kelly Cup Playoff time.
It will be interesting to see where the 24-year old goes next.