Matt Frattin
Canadian former NHL right winger and WCHA Player of the Year.
Matt Frattin (born January 3, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. The Toronto Maple Leafs picked him 99th overall in the 2007 draft, and he started his NHL career with that team. He later suited up for the Los Angeles Kings and Columbus Blue Jackets before the Maple Leafs brought him back in a 2014 trade. After another season and a half in Toronto’s system, he was part of a nine-player swap with the Ottawa Senators. In his final college season at the University of North Dakota (2010–11), Frattin was named WCHA Player of the Year and made the shortlist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Frattin grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, and played in the 2001 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the North West Hawks. He spent the 2006–07 season with the Fort Saskatchewan Traders of the AJHL before the Maple Leafs drafted him. He enrolled at North Dakota in 2007. In August 2009, a DUI—his second alcohol-related incident with police in two months—got him kicked off the team. Though the Maple Leafs offered him a pro contract, he chose to return to school, lost his scholarship, took out student loans, and worked his way back onto the roster. He cleaned up his life and became a key player.
Frattin scored a crucial goal in North Dakota’s 2010 WCHA playoff win over Minnesota. He won the team’s fitness competition at the start of the 2010–11 season after a heavy off-season workout regimen. That same year, the WCHA suspended him for one game for a hit on a Minnesota player. During the 2010–11 season, he led all NCAA Division I players with 36 goals—more than his first three college years combined. That total was the third-highest single-season mark in Division I in the prior decade, trailing only Ryan Potulny’s 38 in 2005–06. Frattin also put together separate eight- and nine-game goal streaks. He helped North Dakota reach the Frozen Four, scoring two game-winners in the WCHA playoffs. He ended the season as WCHA Player of the Year and a Hobey Baker finalist.
Frattin signed a two-year entry-level deal with Toronto on April 8, 2011, and played his first NHL game the next day. He scored his first NHL goal on November 19, 2011, against Washington’s Tomáš Vokoun. On July 1, 2012, Toronto gave him a two-year extension.
Quick Facts
- Birth Date
- 1988-01-03
- Birth Place
- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Height Ft
- 6
- Height In
- 0
- Weight Lb
- 205
- Position
- Right wing
- Shoots
- Right
- Played For
- Toronto Maple Leafs / Los Angeles Kings / Columbus Blue Jackets / Stockton Heat / Barys Nur-Sultan / Lausanne HC / Ak Bars Kazan / HC Bolzano
- Draft
- 99th overall
- Draft Team
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Draft Year
- 2007
- Career Start
- 2011
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Frattin played junior hockey for the Fort Saskatchewan Traders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) during the 2006–07 season. After being drafted by the Maple Leafs in 2007, he enrolled at the University of North Dakota. In August 2009, he was dismissed from the UND squad due to a DUI—his second alcohol-related run-in with the police in two months. Despite being offered a professional contract from the Maple Leafs, Frattin opted to return to school. With his scholarship taken away, he took out student loans and earned his way back onto the roster, cleaning up his life and becoming an integral part of the team.
In the 2010–11 season, Frattin led the entire NCAA Men's Division I in goal-scoring with 36 goals, eclipsing his combined total from his first three collegiate years. His 36 goals was the third-highest single season total in Division I college hockey in the previous ten years. He set separate eight- and nine-game goal-scoring streaks and scored two game-winning goals in the WCHA playoffs en route to a Frozen Four appearance. He was named WCHA Player of the Year and a Hobey Baker Award finalist.
Reader's Guide
Frattin's professional career began when he signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on April 8, 2011, playing his first NHL game the next day. His first NHL goal came on November 19, 2011, against Tomáš Vokoun of the Washington Capitals. He was traded multiple times: to the Los Angeles Kings in June 2013, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in March 2014, and back to the Maple Leafs in July 2014. He spent most of his next two seasons in the AHL with the Marlies, losing ice time to younger players like William Nylander and Connor Brown. In February 2016, he was included in a nine-player trade that sent Dion Phaneuf to the Ottawa Senators. Frattin later played in the KHL for Barys Astana, Ak Bars Kazan, and again for Barys, where he caught COVID-19 in October 2021 and left the club in December to attend the birth of his daughter. He finished his career with HC Bolzano of the ICEHL, scoring 26 points in 40 games and adding 8 points in 19 playoff games as Bolzano lost in the finals to EC Salzburg.
Did You Know?
- Frattin was drafted 99th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2007.
- He led NCAA Division I in goal-scoring with 36 goals in the 2010–11 season.
- Frattin was involved in three trades with the Maple Leafs in as many years.
- He caught COVID-19 in October 2021 while playing for Barys Astana.
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