The Toronto Marlies have signed forward Kyle Clifford to a one-year AHL contract for the 2024-25 season, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Clifford, 33, spent the last two-and-a-half seasons in the Maple Leafs organization on an NHL deal. The veteran left wing appeared in 23 games with the Leafs in the 2021-22 season and two in 2022-23 before spending the entire 2023-24 season in the AHL.
In 53 games with the Marlies in 2023-24, Clifford collected 10 goals, 28 points, and 140 penalty minutes. The Ayr, Ontario product added one goal, four points, and 25 penalty minutes in three games with the Marlies during the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Clifford served as an alternate captain with the Marlies throughout the 2023-24 season and will likely retain that role as Logan Shaw is slated to return for his third season as Marlies captain in 2024-25.
🖊 News | We’ve signed forward Kyle Clifford to a one-year AHL contract. #LongLive
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) July 31, 2024
The Los Angeles Kings originally selected Clifford in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft. The 6’2″, 212-pound winger developed a reputation as one of the toughest enforcers in junior hockey throughout his tenure with the OHL’s Barrie Colts and wasted little time making an impact at the next level, spending his entire first full professional season in the NHL with the Kings.
Clifford won the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012 and 2014, although he maintained a much more consistent presence in the lineup during the team’s second championship run. After skating in just three playoff games in 2012, Clifford dressed for 24 of 26 in 2014 and collected one goal and seven points.
After spending the first 10 seasons of his NHL career with the Kings, Clifford found himself on the move ahead of the 2020 trade deadline when the Leafs acquired him and goaltender Jack Campbell from Los Angeles in exchange for Trevor Moore and two third-round picks. Clifford skated in 16 games with the Leafs to close out the shortened 2019-20 season and also dressed for five playoff contests during the COVID-19 bubble.
As a free agent from the Leafs in 2020, Clifford agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the St. Louis Blues. But just over a month into his second season, Clifford had become a regular healthy scratch and was traded back to Toronto in exchange for future considerations.
Through 753 career games over his long NHL career split between the Kings, Maple Leafs, and Blues, Clifford has collected 66 goals, 144 points, and 905 penalty minutes, in addition to four goals and 16 points in 65 playoff contests. He’s also amassed 21 goals and 51 points in 110 career AHL games with the Marlies and Ontario Reign.
