Maple Leafs sign Hobey Baker Award winner McKay to AHL deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the Dryden McKay sweepstakes.

The club signed the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner to a two-year AHL contract.

McKay was named the NCAA's top men's hockey player April 8. The goaltender, who'll turn 25 in November, set a national record for wins in a season and helped Minnesota State-Mankato advance to the national championship game. He produced a .931 save percentage over 43 contests in 2021-22, his senior year.

The netminder became an NHL free agent when the Mavericks lost the title game to Denver.

Earlier in April, just days after winning the Hobey Baker Award, McKay accepted a six-month sanction by the USADA due to a doping violation. He'll be allowed to use the Maple Leafs' facilities as of Aug. 25, and he can play for the Marlies beginning Oct. 11.

McKay could've been subject to a four-year period of ineligibility - despite the completion of his college career - but he was able to prove that the positive test for ostarine resulted from a contaminated vitamin D supplement. He was tested while serving as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team in January.

The Illinois-born goalie is named after legendary puck-stopper Ken Dryden, who was the Maple Leafs' president from 1997-2003.

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