Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
The Toronto Marlies got one more chance to look backward before they move forward.
The immediate celebrations are memories. Free agency came and went. Summer parties with the Calder Cup are over. Training camp and preseason, too. They got their season opener out of the way Friday on the road against the Rochester Americans to push aside any remaining jitters.
Today marked the 2026-27 home opener, 106 days after a 4-3 win in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals at Coca-Cola Coliseum gave the Marlies the franchise’s second Calder Cup title.
Last year is behind them. The late push in the regular season just to secure a playoff spot. Five playoff rounds, including winner-take-all victories over Rochester, Laval and Cleveland. Taking out Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the Eastern Conference Finals. And knocking off Chicago to win the Cup. The 2025-26 Marlies team did a slow simmer; their 36-26-5-5 record in the regular season was good for a .569 points percentage, the lowest for a Calder Cup champion since 2002.
So there was plenty to look back at and savor as their championship banner went to the rafters. But the Marlies have lots to look forward to as well.
The parent Toronto Maple Leafs had a strong summer reworking their organizational depth chart to keep the Marlies strong. Easton Cowan and Bo Groulx, two major playoff contributors, are with the Leafs coming out of training camp. Defenseman Henry Thrun (Manitoba Moose) and forward Alex Nylander (Calgary Wranglers) went westward.
But the Marlies largely avoided the type of dramatic roster losses that can come after a Calder Cup title. The organization also went out and signed several reliable free agents, including defenseman Cole McWard and forward Brendan Brisson, both AHL All-Stars last season. Goaltender Samuel Hlavaj comes over from the Minnesota Wild organization (as well as the Slovak Olympic team), and Henrik Rybinski spent four seasons in Hershey. McWard and Rybinski are Calder Cup champions themselves as well.
In all, 15 of the 20 players who dressed in Friday’s opener at Rochester spent time with the Marlies last season. There is time-tested know-how in the Toronto dressing room. Forward Vinni Lettieri is back on a new two-year deal after his 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) led the Calder Cup Playoffs. Captain Logan Shaw is, too, with a new contract extension that will keep him with the Marlies through 2027-28. And so is goaltender Artur Akhtyamov, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy winner as the postseason’s most valuable player.
Dakota Mermis and Marshall Rifai are back on the blue line. The returning group of forwards includes Jacob Quillan, Ryan Tverberg, Marc Johnstone, Michael Pezzetta, Reese Johnson and Luke Haymes. Even the youngsters have experience: Ben Danford and Landon Sim already have their names on the Calder Cup as they begin their first full AHL seasons this fall.
One noticeable change is behing the Marlies bench, where Steve Sullivan takes over as head coach after John Gruden moved up to the Leafs as an assistant. Sullivan brings 1,011 games of NHL playing experience with him; assistant coach Mark Giordano has 1,148 NHL games as well.
There will be challenges, of course. Four of Toronto’s first five contests are on the road. They have a six-game November trek and their annual January trip, this one going seven games. Coming off their 24-game postseason, the games, bruises, and injuries accumulate quickly.
Confidence goes a long way in a sport and a league that constantly tests it. This year’s Marlies team has already shown that they can win a Calder Cup.
On the American Hockey League beat for more than two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2015-16.
