SOUTH BEND, Ind. – University of Notre Dame junior forward Max Ellis has signed a two-year entry level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL franchise announced (April 8). Ellis will join the Toronto Marlies on a professional tryout for the remainder of the 2021-22 regular season and the Calder Cup playoffs before his contract begins with the 2022-23 season.
A Canton, Michigan native, Ellis will be joining his former Irish teammates Graham Slaggert, Alex Steeves and Matt Hellickson in the Maple Leafs organization.
Ellis has a breakout season offensively with the Irish in 2021-22, helping to lead Notre Dame to the NCAA Albany Regional Final.
Ellis skated in 39 games this past season as a junior, tallying career-high totals in goals (16), assists (12) and points (28). His 28 points were the most on the team as were his 16 goals. He had six multi-point games on the season as well as two power-play goals.
Ellis notched his first career hat trick, including the overtime game winner, to secure a weekend sweep at top-ranked Michigan (Nov. 20). With his three goals, Ellis became the first visiting player with a hat trick at Yost Ice Arena in 15 years (2006). He also served a key role on Notre Dame’s top-ranked penalty kill unit and had a pair of shorthanded goals.
Ellis showcased a great deal of development in his three seasons, scoring one goal in eight games as a freshman and then notching 16 points (5-11-16) in 24 games as a sophomore.
A Management Consulting major, Ellis was a 2021-22 Hobey Baker Award nominee (Jan. 12) and was named the Big Ten’s First Star of the Week (Nov. 23). Ellis also earned Big Ten All-Academic Team honors each of the past two seasons.
AS A JUNIOR
- Notched first point of the season with an assist in 5-2 win over Long Island (Oct. 9).
- Assisted on the game-winning goal in 2-1 overtime victory at Michigan Tech (Oct. 15).
- Recorded first career three-point game with a goal and two assists in 5-2 win over Northern Michigan (Oct. 16).
- Posted his first career two-goal game of the season in 6-0 home win over RIT (Oct. 22).
- Tallied a goal and an assist in the 5-2 win over Holy Cross (Nov. 4).
- Notched a goal in game two victory against Holy Cross (Nov. 5).
- Scored a goal in third straight game with two tallies in 5-1 win over Wisconsin (Nov. 12).
- Assisted on Ryder Rolston’s overtime game winner in road victory over then-No. 1 Michigan (Nov. 19).
- Earned first career hat trick, including the overtime game winner, to secure a weekend sweep at Michigan (Nov. 20).
- With his three goals, Ellis became the first visiting player with a hat trick at Yost Ice Arena in 15 years (2006).
- Notched two points in the weekend slate against Ohio State with a goal in game one and an assist in game two (Dec. 3-4) and the multipoint weekend capped off a career-long nine game point streak.
- Earned fourth multi-goal performance of the season in 4-2 victory over Penn State (Jan. 7).
- Scored the overtime game winner in 5-4 win at Penn State (Jan. 8).
- Notched a goal en route to 3-2 overtime home victory over Minnesota (Jan. 29).
- Scored a goal in game one and added an assist in game two during a weekend sweep of Penn State (Feb. 4-5).
- Added an assist in the 4-2 win at Michigan State (Feb. 19).
#IrishInTheNHL
- Fourteen former Fighting Irish players have played in the NHL this season: Anders Bjork (Buffalo Sabres), Ian Cole (Carolina Hurricanes), Jake Evans (Montreal Canadiens), Steven Fogarty (Boston Bruins), Jordan Gross (Colorado Avalanche) Vinnie Hinostroza (Buffalo Sabres), Anders Lee (New York Islanders), Kyle Palmieri (New York Islanders), Andrew Peeke (Columbus), Cal Petersen (Los Angeles Kings), Bryan Rust (Pittsburgh Penguins), Riley Sheahan (Seattle Kraken), Alex Steeves (Toronto Maple Leafs) and TJ Tynan (Los Angeles Kings).
- Steeves made his NHL debut for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 7 against Columbus (and former Notre Dame teammate Andrew Peeke) in a 5-4 Toronto win.
- Steeves, who earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors in 2020-21, became the 25th former Irish player under head coach Jeff Jackson to reach the NHL and the Notre Dame program’s 39th NHL player overall.
- Prior to Steeves, the most recent Notre Dame players to make their NHL debuts were Jordan Gross, Peeke, Jake Evans and Thomas DiPauli during the 2019-20 season.
- Former Fighting Irish All-American goaltender Cale Morris (Chicago) and former captain Cal Burke (Colorado) inked NHL deals around the first of the year and were recalled to their teams’ respective taxi squads.
- Morris, who played from 2016-20 and led the Irish to the 2018 NCAA Championship game, signed a one-year entry-level deal on Dec. 31.
- Burke, who also played from 2016-20 with the Irish, signed a one-year contract with Colorado on Dec. 16 and later was recalled to the taxi squad.
- Former Irish captain Steven Fogarty made his Boston debut late in January to become the 14th former Fighting Irish player to appear in the NHL this season.
– ND –