In some respects, Matt Frattin was more of a Toronto Maple Leaf than a ‘Marlie.’

However, his first season in the AHL immediately endured him to fans at Ricoh Coliseum as his goals almost propelled Toronto to a first Calder Cup championship.

Frattin played junior hockey for the Fort Saskatchewan Traders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) during the 2006–07 season and was then selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fourth round, 99th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

The Alberta native also enrolled at the University of North Dakota that year and was a big part of the Fighting Hawks for his four seasons there.

The 2010-11 campaign was his last in the NCAA and he racked up the following accolades:

• NCAA (Overall) Most Goals (36)
• NCAA (WCHA) All-Academic Team
• NCAA (WCHA) All-Tournament Team
• NCAA (WCHA) Champion
• NCAA (WCHA) First All-Star Team
• NCAA (WCHA) Player of the Year
• NCAA (WCHA) Scoring Champion (40)
• NCAA (WCHA) Tournament MVP
• NCAA (West) First All-American Team
• NCAA Top Collegiate Player (Hobey Baker Award) Finalist

It wasn’t always a smooth road for the NCAA star, however.

On April 8, 2011, Frattin signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and made his debut the very next day against Montreal.

His first full season as a professional got off to a slow start, picking up just a solitary assist in eleven NHL games.
A three-game AHL reassignment saw Frattin rattle off two goals and a helper before a swift recall to the NHL.

His first NHL goal wasn’t bad.

In truth, the Alberta native struggled during his rookie year with the Maple Leafs, but down a level, he flourished with the Marlies.

Eighteen points in 23 games included fourteen goals and the right-winger continued to dominate during the playoffs.

Ten goals in thirteen playoff games helped Toronto reach the Calder Cup final including two in the fifth game of the conference finals where Toronto eliminated Oklahoma City Barons.
In netting the second, Frattin showed sheer determination to tally an insurance marker but in doing so crashed awkwardly into the net and suffered a knee injury which prematurely ended his season.

Toronto would be swept by Norfolk in the final and it’s not a stretch to say that Frattin would have made a difference with the form he was in.

The following year Frattin would remain out until November thanks to his injury but made an impact at the NHL level this time around. Thirteen points in 25 games, albeit helped by an inflated shooting percentage of 16.7%.
The right-winger would be involved in that infamous series against Boston and he was unfairly chastised for not capitalising on a breakaway chance late in the game but could hardly be blamed for Toronto’s collapse of epic proportions.

Despite those numbers and once again almost putting up PPG pace in the AHL, Toronto opted to trade Frattin to the Los Angeles Kings, along with goaltender Ben Scrivens and a conditional second-round draft pick, in exchange for goaltender Jonathan Bernier on June 23, 2013.

He didn’t even last a full season in Los Angeles, as the Kings traded the right-handed shot forward to Columbus in March of 2014.

In July Frattin was on the move again but to more familiar surroundings.

The Maple Leafs traded for him on July 1, 2014, in exchange for Jerry D’Amigo and a 2015 conditional seventh-round draft pick. He then penned a two-year contract extension with Toronto but would only play on a combined nine occasions through the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

The goal-scoring winger hadn’t lost his touch in the AHL however, blasting twenty-six goals and accumulating 48 points through 59 games in the 2014-15 regular season.

The Marlies would be downed by eventual champions Grand Rapids Griffins in the first round of the playoffs but Frattin did everything in his power with three goals and as many assists during the five games series in which Toronto led 2-0.

The writing was pretty much on the wall for Frattin during the 2015-16 campaign.

The Toronto organisation were in the midst of a rebuild and young talent including the likes of William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown, Josh Leivo, Nikita Soshnikov and Kasperi Kapanen were receiving the majority of ice-time ahead of veteran players on the roster.

On February 9, 2016, Frattin was part of a blockbuster nine-player deal that focused around Dion Phaneuf moving to the Ottawa Senators.
A very unusual part of the trade was that Frattin was loaned back to the Marlies the following day by the Senators to finish the season.

A free agent in the summer of 2016, Frattin remained in North America, signing a one-year AHL contract with the Stockton Heat.

His AHL scoring touch remained with eighteen goals and as many assists for the Calgary Flames affiliate, though he was only able to add one assist in three playoff games as Stockton was swept in the first round.

Frattin finished his 228 AHL game career with eight goals, seventy-three assists and 153 points.

China was supposed to be his new port of call but the deal with Beijing’s HC Kunlun Red Star allegedly fell through and Frattin signed with Barys Astana, with whom he spent two seasons playing for.
In-between times there was a very short stint in Switzerland with Lausanne but the KHL would prove too strong of a lure and Frattin signed with Ak Bars Kazan for the 2019-20 season.

During his time in Russia, Frattin has racked up 96 points in 150 games whilst also proving himself a clutch player in the playoffs. Sixteen points in as many games, and yes you guessed, twelve goals to his name.

Dependant on watch the future holds, the Canadian forward is due to remain in the KHL having agreed to a 2020-21 deal with Barys Nur-Sultan (formerly Barys Astana).